Throughout my life, at least half of the adults I have encountered have told me that I could not understand their level of stress. Although I may be younger I still know how it feels to work and be stressed while working. Has your guardian ever told you that your school work is not as difficult as their work? Now I am not complaining because I am grateful for everything any adult has done for me, but it does get discouraging having someone think your work is not as important or rigorous as theirs.
Taking AP classes and honors classes among being in the IB program can be quite tiring for me, but I continue to do it for myself. Some teens do not want to about stress the future too much whereas others may only have their focus set on it. Obviously there are adults who praise that and are proud of teens who work hard, but there are adults who may discourage you without even meaning to. They say things such as “stop acting stupidly” or “you could be doing a lot better.” Although sometimes the push may be used to benefit teens to do excel, which is understandable, people need to think about how to word what they want to say.
Everyone excels in different areas of work or thought, which is often overlooked in adult’s minds. Some teens are great writers, but some adults may read articles written by teens and think that they could write something better. It does not matter how old you are, but how much effort you are willing to put into your work. Everyone forgets that from time to time.
If you have a dream or a passion, do not let anyone tell you that it is unreasonable. If you are working hard on a project and someone tells you that it is stupid, keep working. If you know what you want when you want it then go for it. Age has nothing to do with the ability to create, to learn, or to love!
This is a plea for teens to understand that their work and effort is not going unnoticed and that if anything, it should mean a lot to themselves. Do not wait around for the approval of adults who may not understand where you are coming from; if you believe in something for yourself then DO IT! Working hard, getting good grades, managing an after school job, helping out at home is all appreciated, no matter what someone does or does not tell you. So no matter how old you are, never underestimate the work someone of any age may have put into something.
