Today, when I woke up, the first thing that popped into my mind was, I didn’t finish my CSA homework from yesterday. It was 5:30 in the morning and I got up, opened my Chromebook, and worked through breakfast till I ran out of time – barely completing the final requirement. I can probably imagine that this isn’t a rare phenomenon for teens today. In fact, the idea of having an education, attending college, is part of the norm of today’s world. So often I hear these horror stories about how a kid crammed everything the night before to make up for neglecting it the week prior; having stayed up late to 3 in the morning before hurriedly finishing and flunking out till they arose for school 4 hours later at 7. Sleep just isn’t a priority, and neither are hot meals. We just don’t have the time. But it’s not like it’s intentional either; I might work ahead on an assignment to give myself leeway for some free time, and end up spending that free time working on something else that’s approaching its deadline instead. Then, when I finally feel like I caught up on all the things I was previously behind on, I open my schedule, and what do you know, that old assignment I worked ahead on, yeah, it’s due tomorrow at 8. So much of my world is refined by the act of give and take in my studies. It’s like a never ending waterfall of things to do. So why do we do it? On top of everything else that I feel like consumes my world, from time to time this question will arbitrarily slip into my mind. Like a persistent pop up ad that keeps seeking attention. And, if I ever did bring myself to acknowledge that oh so pointless ad, I’d find myself down a deep rabbit hole, grasping desperately at the dark for this answer I was kinda scared of getting. So, in my opinion, part of being a teen is facing the world head on. Taking the hard question that no one can really answer, and yet choosing to continue to acknowledge it. We are the generation of creativity, flexibility, and ingenuity that outshines anything you’ll see elsewhere. Being a teen is hard, because you don’t always know why you do what you do, but that’s also the part that makes it so important, since that’s when you start to make your own reasons why. The turning point where the bow of your ship no longer paths the sea of idealism, but instead lights up the fog, creating a mystery of purpose that to each kid unlocks the truths of the world. That’s why, even though I’m ready to head out to adulthood, I'll make sure to hold on to my teenage dreams, because whatever I do, I certainly don’t want to forget what it’s like being a teen.