Personally for me, my teenage years were a very critical part of my life. All while I was in High School, I would often fantasize of being in a better place far away from my bossy mother, and all the social problems that I (and probably all teenagers) had to deal with while coming of age. I have to admit that after all the things that went on after graduation (6 years in the military followed by another 4 years of college), things didn’t turn out too bad. What were your Teenage years like, and after leaving high school, how ( good/bad ) did things turn out. Did any part of your fantasies come true?
General Questions is for questions with factual answers. IMHO is for opinions and polls.
Off to IMHO.
DrMatrix - GQ Moderator
If you had asked me when I was 15 what I’d be doing when I was 25, I would have thought I’d be living some crazy bohemian life–possibly in an actual garret. I never thought I’d be working professionally with kids; that I’d be married; or that my idea of a great Saturday would be a long hike in the mountains, followed by coming home and making whole-wheat bread and mushroom soup. I love how my life has turned out, though, and I wouldn’t change much about it.
I just knew I’d be rich and famous. I filled in the time until that happened by doing things that ensured that I’d be tabloid fodder when I achieved my destiny. Finally I decided it would be better for my family’s peace of mind if I just remained poor and anonymous. I guess coming to that realization was when I grew out of my prolonged adolescence and officially became a grownup.
As a teenager, I would never have imagined I could be satisfied with so little, but I am, and life is pretty good (plus I don’t have to worry about looking at Hello and finding it full of stories called “I Regret My Wild Youth by zephyrine Incrediblyrichandfamous (photos inside)”).
I wasn’t really sure what I would be doing career-wise, but I hoped it would involve using computers and making a reasonable income. I had a good feeling I’d probably never be married or have kids. Turns out I was right on both counts.
Two weeks after my nineteenth birthday my Father returned me to South Florida to school where I was learning to be a deep sea diver. The next morning, a Florida Highway Patrolman came to my dormroom and imformed me that my Father had been kiiled in a head-on collision and he needed me to come with him to make the identification.
My first real-world lesson was: ALWAYS BE READY TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT THAT YOU PLANNED
As an adult I have had to deal with my own alcoholism, my mental illness, and I have been brain damaged in an automobile accident. I probably should not have survived 41 years. I have been blessed with a good wife, I have a couple of true friends, and I have some recognition in the community for what that’s worth. There is no way I could have seen the way my life has turned out.
The most important thing I know: IT’S NOT THE DESTINATION BUT THE JOURNEY!
I’m really glad now that I am not doing what I thought I would be doing when I was a teen ager. I thought I would be dead by now, so anything else has to be good! 
Things are pretty much like I expected.
However, I didn’t realize how quickly time would seem to elapse once an adult.
I must have been living entirely and constantly in-the-moment when I was a teenager, because I cannot recall ever thinking about what my life would be like as an adult. It’s amazing to me now that I never considered it (or maybe I just don’t remember thinking about it).
Since I apparently had no expectations of adult life, nothing is a surprise to me, with the possible exception of the fact that some days I feel more like the teenager I was than the adult/father/husband/teacher/etc. I’m supposed to be.
I’m only 22 now.
When I was a teenager, I knew I’d go to the university that I did end up going to, but I believed that I would become a veterinarian. About 2 weeks into the school year (in another major) I realised that I didn’t want to go through the trouble of applying to such a competitive program, and that I didn’t really want to be a vet. So I ended up in biochemistry. With about a year left in THAT major, I realised that I SHOULD have been in chemistry. Oh well!
I also thought I’d move back home, or at least to Montreal, after graduation. Looks like I’m staying here for at least another year or two! I thought I’d be married, and have a dog - neither of those have happened, though I am in a 4-year old relationship and we have a cat! I thought I’d be working by now…I’ve had a couple of job interviews, but nothing has come of them yet. I have another one on Friday that looks promising, though.
It’s a bunch of little things, really. I am still close friends with a lot of my high school friends, so that hasn’t changed things too much, though I suppose at the time I believed that I’d see them a lot more often. I thought I’d have better furniture (I have a degree, shouldn’t I have money?) and a nicely painted apartment. I thought I’d be able to afford some of the more expensive hobbies that I have, but they’ve been put on hold.
Things will hopefully change within the next month or so. I’ll see in a few more years how different things are from today!
The only thing I didn’t predict was that somebody invented the Internet, so I’m not nearly as bored as I would have expected.
Thinking about this has reminded me that one of my old professors bet me ten years ago that I’d be married and have kids in ten years. Maybe I should track him down… he owes me a lunch! 