Ok, so my birthday is coming up in like a few days, and I’m going to be 19.
My parents and everybody says its pretty much all downhill after you graduate from high school, so I bet time will fly pretty fast.
What are the top ten things I should do in 2002-2003 as my last official year as a teenager?
I know a lot of my fun will start when I’m 21 *
*
No.
NO!
DEAR SWEET CANDY-COATED BABY JESUS, NO!
At least, I seriously hope not. Well, I’ve wasted my life. :smack:
I’ve been told it’s all downhill after college. Can’t tell yet if it’s true.
Screw that! I left teenagerhood behind in 1977. And I’m having more fun in my life now than I ever have!
Life’s what you make it into.
Stop doing?
How about riding in grocery carts?
heh heh heh
I have to say that my life has only gotten better and better since high school, and I didn’t have a bad high school experience. It’s just that since then, it’s been more freedom, more material ability to do what I want, fewer stupid mistakes and feet-in-mouth, more mature relationships… I would never go back.
The worst thing you can do is sweat a missed opportunity. Don’t worry about it. Do what you want, and don’t feel like it’s some kind of last chance.
Actually, four days ago was my last DAY of being a teenager. Let me tell you - no big change occurs. For me, high school was a lot better than college has been (yes, there’s a reason I’m graduating early). However, I highly doubt things’ll go downhill. There’s really nothing special to do when you’re 19. You have all the rights of an 18-20 year old… and unfortunately, no one expects squat from you. I guess if you really wanna do something, show people that 19 yr olds are worth something. If you don’t give us young’ins responsibility, we’ll never know how to use it when we’re older, right?
I’m nearly 20 and MY life went downhill after I graduated. sighs
Bah. My life started as an adult. I wouldn’t go back for anything.
A few things:
[ul][li]First, senility sets in earlier than most people believe. Most twentysomethings I know become convinced their childhoods were perfect, no matter how awful they were.[/li][li]With adulthood comes responsibility. And with that responsibility comes power. Never get locked into thinking you’re powerless – your life is your own, and your decisions shape it for better or worse. People are often so scared of this reality they run from it. Face it, and you can make your life anything.[/li][li]Children have one thing on adults – they know imagination runs the world. Adults forget this. But everything that defines the “adult” world – economics and politics especially – are tricks of the imagination. They are not as real as they seem to be – they cannot be touched or seen. They exist, and can be changed, through imagination – or imagination plus action. Never lose your imagination – it will only go away if you send it away.[/li][li]If you think of adulthood as death, it will be death. If you think of it as life, it will be the beginning of life.[/ul][/li]Anyway, that’s what little wisdom I’ve accumulated in my 26 years. Now I’m signing off to work on my novel
Great advice, Hamish. Never stop learning, and never stop dreaming. I had an ex-boyfriend (emphasis on the ex) who would tell me that he knew he had had the best time of his life in high school, and he never expected to enjoy life more than that.
I couldn’t get over how sad that was–to just KNOW that you would never have that much fun again. How limiting.
Don’t listen to 'em! The only way things will go “downhill” after high school is if you turn in to one of those pathetic people that continually re-live all their great high school experiences - even when they’re 45.
Sure, the first few months after graduation and into college can be tough. Life certainly can seem like it’s going downhill. I remember an awful lot of late nights spent staring at the sky while quietly crying about something stupid when I was in my early 20’s.
You may look back on high school as a fun time in your life - and for almost all of us it was - but the best thing you can do is to keep living and keep trying new things. Learn EVERYTHING that you can and enjoy what comes along.
When I was 19, I looked ahead to 40 and thought “man, I can’t even imagine LIVING to be that old, let alone liking it.”
Now that I’m 41, I’m looking back at that frequently idiotic kid that I was and laughing hard most of the time.
Life just gets better.
And Happy Birthday!! May you have many, many more.
Hey, the only way things could have gone downhill for me after high school is if I’d died. Sounds nihilistic, I know, but it’s an oddly comforting thought.