"The Adult World"

"Babies can't run; they crawl."

"Well I want to be a baby that runs."

I'm helpless. As a teenager I can't do much other than propose the ideas I have and pray for them to be swept up by an adult kind enough to advise my proposal and pull the necessary strings in the "adult world." Otherwise, what can I really do as a 16 year old female still in high school? Recently I feel as though my hands are tied, as though I can only talk, as though that's all I can do... Can I really make a difference in the world as one teenager among a sea of adults who have the political, economic, and social influence that comes with age, maturity, and experience? Yes, I might be a baby in the eyes of some of the adults out there in the world, but being a baby means that I can see from a baby's point of view. If we want to live a society that constantly grows and advances, don't we need to take into account all age groups, races, and genders? If we choose to leave out voices because of single factors, we aren't allowing ourselves to reach the full potential that we actually could otherwise. Education? The idea of common core in theory is the perfect stepping stone to higher education that we'll experience in college, but when it was implemented, did the leaders of this project communicate with the high school students that the new education method affected? Why is it that education has decided to take this turn without our consent and input as affected students? I agree we might not be the most experienced nor the most qualified, but if we were to give our opinions, the entire transition into this change for the better might have had the opportunity to thrive and blossom even more. Problems? Whatever age we are, we will have problems: mid-life crises, depression, PTSD, anxiety, panic attacks, you name it. But when we're teenagers, what makes our problems more trivial that it can be dismissed by the adult counselors we are supposed to seek help from? Our age? Age is just a number and that number should not be the determining factor in how our real life problems are perceived. Yes we as teenagers have hormones but does that take away from the fact that our problems are as real and as impactful as those of adults? Teenagers are told to talk to an adult but when adults don't care because of the fact that we are young, who can we turn to?

I want to be impactful. I don't want to helpless anymore. Baby or not, I want to sprint. Too early? Let me learn for myself and let me make those mistakes for myself. Instead of telling me I can't, why don't I try first and test out my limits? I will never know what I am capable of until I try everything and anything.

Instead of sitting back in the corner waiting for things to get done by the busy adults, let us take it into our own hands to control our past, present, and future.