Teenage life

[Aere]

I'm not an expert, but that's a controversial viewpoint to take up. I'm pretty sure the Greek and Russian Orthodoxy, among others, would be angry to hear you saying something like that.

I think the Orthodox churches were still based off of one's interpretation of the teaching of Christ/his followers. I'm not an expert either.

Primarily, I mean everything branching off from Protestantism onward.

[Lux Aeterna]

@Aere: I think I'll just phrase it this way:

It is true that you do not lose your complete sense of self by conforming, but you do lose the part of yourself that corresponds to the activities of the group that you conform to.

In other words, when I said I'm "conformist in my beliefs," that is no longer my individuality: I am just like everyone else in that I

1) Believe something

2) Hold the Christian beliefs

But the way I practice my beliefs is different from most--I simply try to be the best person I can to myself and others. Yes, I'm not the only person who does that. It is impossible to be a true individual in this world with no similarities to others.

But then it gets into varying degrees of conformism and annoyingly complicated things of that nature, and I'd rather not get into that. I hope you understand what I'm saying.

[Aere]

In other words, when I said I'm "conformist in my beliefs," that is no longer my individuality: I am just like everyone else in that I

1) Believe something

2) Hold the Christian beliefs

But the way I practice my beliefs is different from most--I simply try to be the best person I can to myself and others. Yes, I'm not the only person who does that. It is impossible to be a true individual in this world with no similarities to others.

That's the good thing! My problem, is when that group (The Anti-Conformist group) practices everything the exact same, then say they're individuals.

[Celice]

In other words, you can call yourself something, but not be limited by that categorization. When one willingly (or unknowingly) lose themselves to a belief or cause or group, and start acting in ways which are not so much their own but an embodiment of the zeitgeist--that's the troubling moment.

An affiliation is entirely separate from putting on blind glasses which color how you view the world and make decisions.

Edited September 13, 2011 by Celice

[BEST TRYNDAMERE PLAYER]

I was obnoxious and easily depressed. I also isolated myself a lot and by the time I decided to be social it was too late(Age 16, to be exact). Although 17 was probably when my turning point for the better in life began.

[Rehab]

A bit of a bump, but

I was homeless for a bit, didn't really care about whatever everyone else cared about, met a girl and stayed with her for a few years (as in, hooked up), and got to spend the last high school year at college. Which was a lot better, 'cause I didn't get stuck dealing with things I didn't care about.

All in all, nothing very memorable.

<:E

You think so?

Send me a copy of your memoirs some time.

Edited November 8, 2011 by Rehab

[Celice]

I'll talk about whatever you'd like.

[Rehab]

OK, thanks. How did you end up dealing with being homeless? Was this like a day, a week or a year+ of living on the streets, or did you move pretty quickly from your parent's house to your friend's?

Did you get to go to college early through a scholarship?

Edited November 10, 2011 by Rehab

[Celice]

I was homeless for a month my junior year, around November. My mother was living with an older man, and I was staying with my mother (having recently left my father's home). She was thrown out, and by lieu, I was thrown out. Father didn't want me, so her and I ended up staying on the street for the first night, then she found an old friend willing to take us in for a couple nights. When I got back to school I was able to arrange a few nights a week in a motel through the school's psychologist/therapist/help person. On and off a month we'd switch between the friends house and the motels. After about a month, the guy decided he missed my mom, and we found ourselves back.

The wording may be confusing, in that the hook-up, I didn't go live with her. That was just a separate event along the spectrum of the later high-school years.

For the college, I elected myself for a cross-enrollment program put on in connection between my local high school and a nearby community college/JC. I was allowed to take up to three courses covered by the program, in addition to a ton (and I mean a ton) of busy, useless work meant to represent our attendance at the highschool, though we no longer took courses there. The busy work was so that our school district would still be able to receive funding, and thus, consider us, still students of the school district. By busy work, I mean 35 pages front-back a week on sometimes basic coursework, but often times really useless junk. I don't remember much of it because it was so... bleh. Though the cost of classes were covered, cost of books was not--until you graduate high school you are ineligible for any college financial aid. Regardless of the fact that I was enrolled and considered a student by the college, because I had not yet technically separated from the high-school, no funding was made available to me, either through scholarship or civil financial aid. Luckily it was only a community college, or I could have had some real issues paying for high-value sheets of paper.

[Zanarkin]

School sucks.

High school to be more specific.

Oh yeah sure, because its reasonable to give me a rough draft, a case study(bio), prep for a lab(bio), a formal lab (bio), something else tomorrow (bio), start working on some journal (physics lab, should be fairly easy though), do writing folders and quote log, and start reading frankenstain, and likely math homework tomorrow all due sometime next week :/

:< I feel like i'm under so much pressure here... wtf... why aren't teachers more understanding of their students... you know, i don't only have you as a teacher, and you aren't the only teacher that gives me homework... This is what makes high school hell for me... i enjoy learning... I just don't enjoy being pressured like this...

Is university anything like this?

Also, i was wondering, let me squeeze this here... i have a dilenma... I like bio... and while i don't think i'll need it, i want to take it to keep my options open. Now the thing is the class is often very stressful mostly due to the workload which becomes hectic whenever there is work. As well as the test weeks being a bitch. The teacher is great, just that his expectations for work are something that i'm not used to. I figured well that if i can make it, it will only make me more ready for university, right? The thing is though... its just crazy... I mean bio is the one class that is most time consuming, and the homework takes the longest to complete... While my other classes haven't really been affected, i fear it might get to me... I just don't even know what to do anymore. This week has just been piling up work on me, and it just keeps on piling on and on it seems to have no end and no rest days or even extra days to do some work without more comming onto you the next day (november has none, and it will go on till christmas break...).

[Thor Odinson]

Is university anything like this?

Depends on the school you go to. A community college is less stressful than low-end state/private uni is less stressful than a high-end state uni/private uni is less stressful than the Ivys, as a general trend. I'm going to a pretty good State University, and while it's less stressful than some of the private unis I would've went to if I had the money to do so, I'm already getting bombarded with work. Time management is key though, and...I kinda suck at that :P

Also you need more initiative in Uni. The teachers expect you to read before hand and do some work on your own instead of being spoonfed what to do.

Edited November 15, 2011 by Luminescent Blade

[dondon151]

Be glad that you're not in Asia and that your entire future doesn't rest on the results of a university placement exam.

[Thor Odinson]

I am very glad. I could have been, too, had my parents not moved out of that terrible country.

[Defeatist Elitist]

School sucks.

High school to be more specific.

Oh yeah sure, because its reasonable to give me a rough draft, a case study(bio), prep for a lab(bio), a formal lab (bio), something else tomorrow (bio), start working on some journal (physics lab, should be fairly easy though), do writing folders and quote log, and start reading frankenstain, and likely math homework tomorrow all due sometime next week :/

:< I feel like i'm under so much pressure here... wtf... why aren't teachers more understanding of their students... you know, i don't only have you as a teacher, and you aren't the only teacher that gives me homework... This is what makes high school hell for me... i enjoy learning... I just don't enjoy being pressured like this...

Is university anything like this?

Also, i was wondering, let me squeeze this here... i have a dilenma... I like bio... and while i don't think i'll need it, i want to take it to keep my options open. Now the thing is the class is often very stressful mostly due to the workload which becomes hectic whenever there is work. As well as the test weeks being a bitch. The teacher is great, just that his expectations for work are something that i'm not used to. I figured well that if i can make it, it will only make me more ready for university, right? The thing is though... its just crazy... I mean bio is the one class that is most time consuming, and the homework takes the longest to complete... While my other classes haven't really been affected, i fear it might get to me... I just don't even know what to do anymore. This week has just been piling up work on me, and it just keeps on piling on and on it seems to have no end and no rest days or even extra days to do some work without more comming onto you the next day (november has none, and it will go on till christmas break...).

What nation do you live in (I seem to recall you were from Canada, though I'm not sure if that's true)?

If you are Canadian, I'd say keep Bio. In fact, I'd say take as many "real" courses as possible, not only are they decent for preparation and laying groundwork, they also keep the doors pretty open.

I'm not sure what to say if you're really finding high school incredibly difficult and stressful, other than that maybe you have shitty luck? Either way, while you are not necessarily GIVEN more work in university, you should certainly be DOING more work in university. I never studied (and in general never did homework) in high school, but I at least do some in university. Less than I should, certainly, but more than I did in high school.

I think it really does depend on exactly where you go. If you go to a school with low entry requirements you'll probably have an easier time of things.

Edited November 15, 2011 by Defeatist Elitist

[Zanarkin]

What nation do you live in (I seem to recall you were from Canada, though I'm not sure if that's true)?

If you are Canadian, I'd say keep Bio. In fact, I'd say take as many "real" courses as possible, not only are they decent for preparation and laying groundwork, they also keep the doors pretty open.

I'm not sure what to say if you're really finding high school incredibly difficult and stressful, other than that maybe you have shitty luck? Either way, while you are not necessarily GIVEN more work in university, you should certainly be DOING more work in university. I never studied (and in general never did homework) in high school, but I at least do some in university. Less than I should, certainly, but more than I did in high school.

I think it really does depend on exactly where you go. If you go to a school with low entry requirements you'll probably have an easier time of things.

Yes I'm in Canada.

Well... I'm taking other courses next semester (Calculus/Chem/Physics) which i need for the program i want to go into... Not that i find high school difficult, its just stressful sometimes how everything just seems to pile onto you sometimes (plus my procrastination doesn't help)... I finished most of the work i have to do (except for the lab... but i have no idea honestly and i don't feel like doing it anymore since i made up my mind to drop it)... Ugh... i better get over these procrastination issues... I don't want to go to Uni with them...

I decided to drop bio because i don't plan on doing anything in biology and to have that class there just feels like i'm wasting my time, I'd rather focus on my three other classes, and i really don't feel like doing any of the bio work.

Edit: Update if anyone cares i decided not to drop it. I like the class and since i got most of my work done i guess i was just being a brat.

Edited November 17, 2011 by SlayerX

[Freohr Datia]

Ugh the beginning of college makes teenage life pretty hard D= Idk about everyone else, but my high school was waaayyy easier than this.

Then there's how people want to do all these activities in school and also get a job.

And then when you become a teenager that's when people start having crushes on others and it's such a new thing for them that they don't know how to handle it.

And then there's that horrible case where you have people asking you out and you don't like them, but that makes it hard on both! Though that could still happen at any age.

There's also how teenagers are learning in school but insist on having sex because it's something they haven't experienced yet and when it's new to them they just want more and more of it, so they have children and have to have a job to support them, while still having to learn in school.

Besides all these things that happen to teenagers though, there's still the adult life and that is definitely difficult because you will have to handle all those bills and children and have jobs at the same time... You still hear adults complaining about their work they have to handle, as well.

[Rehab]

-interesting post-

I haven't thanked you for sharing that yet? That's no good. Thanks, that gave me reason to pause.

[Life]

I have an opinion that nobody here is going to like.

Boo fucking hoo. Grow up.

No, seriously. I'm sick of listening to kids whine about how their lives are so hard just because their social life isn't perfect. Go out, make some friends and don't whine about it on the internet. Even if it's just 2 or 3 close buddies, that's still "friends". Besides, I'd rather have 2 people that I can count on with my life at stake than 100 that wouldn't lift a finger to help me from drowning.

[Agro]

I have an opinion that nobody here is going to like.

Boo fucking hoo. Grow up.

No, seriously. I'm sick of listening to kids whine about how their lives are so hard just because their social life isn't perfect. Go out, make some friends and don't whine about it on the internet. Even if it's just 2 or 3 close buddies, that's still "friends". Besides, I'd rather have 2 people that I can count on with my life at stake than 100 that wouldn't lift a finger to help me from drowning.

i love you so much

[Original Alear]

I have an opinion that nobody here is going to like.

Boo fucking hoo. Grow up.

No, seriously. I'm sick of listening to kids whine about how their lives are so hard just because their social life isn't perfect. Go out, make some friends and don't whine about it on the internet. Even if it's just 2 or 3 close buddies, that's still "friends". Besides, I'd rather have 2 people that I can count on with my life at stake than 100 that wouldn't lift a finger to help me from drowning.

I would do my best to stop you from drowning, it's just that I don't expect to ever be around when you are drowning. Or even know that you are.

But we're not friends.

[Rehab]

I don't imagine that anybody will disagree with you for telling people to be more well-balanced as a person and try to improve their social life, but there are people who are well aware that their problems should be solvable and beat themselves up about it. Self-awareness is often necessary for somebody to give an honest shot at treating their personal problems, yes, but without a point of comparison it's possible to wallow in the seeming failure to do so, such that one becomes so convinced of their own incompetence that their chances of improving seem to get perpetually worse. That may be a part of just fucking dealing with it, but without knowing that they're not alone or uniquely hopeless, it can appear to be that much more impossible to do anything about it.

Threads like these might not directly solve everything, but they can be cathartic in helping people relate their problems, and simply sharing and comparing experiences might help them grow some confidence. I think this thread is useful for that, at the absolute least.

[heronprincess23]

Personally, I would say that teenage life is different for everyone. I'm one of five girls at my school that like anime or videogames, and most of the girls at school are just horrible. They are all the types of girls that wear thousands of layers of fake tan, backcomb their hair, wear ridiculous amounts of make-up, wear tiny dresses even though they're 14 and post pictures of themselves looking downright tacky on Facebook. Unfortunately, these girls are everywhere at my school, and we also get a fair share of those that do the stereotypical teenage stuff, like drink and take drugs and go to house parties. I don't drink EVER, I've had one sip of wine in my life and that is as far as it goes, and I would never stoop so low as to take drugs that kill you.

Speaking of drugs, last year I found that one of my friends had got in with the wrong crowd and was carrying marijuana around school. Some of her friends were selling cigarettes and selling drugs. Me and my best friend went straight to the headmistress with all of this, and snuffed out our friends - but at least we saved a few lives. My closest friend has stopped carrying it around, but we know that the others still sell it and take it, so there's nothing much we can do. For a while, the girls involved didn't talk to me or my best friend, but it's all okay now, and we're actually getting on better with them!

As for me being an anime and videogame nerd, I'm happy where I stand. Nerds have a happier existence because we don't care about what people think of us, whereas popular people are always worrying about people's opinion of them.

I hope my story will be of some use to you all, and I wish you all a happy teenage life!!

- heronprincess23

[Original Alear]

Personally, I would say that teenage life is different for everyone. I'm one of five girls at my school that like anime or videogames, and most of the girls at school are just horrible. They are all the types of girls that wear thousands of layers of fake tan, backcomb their hair, wear ridiculous amounts of make-up, wear tiny dresses even though they're 14 and post pictures of themselves looking downright tacky on Facebook. Unfortunately, these girls are everywhere at my school, and we also get a fair share of those that do the stereotypical teenage stuff, like drink and take drugs and go to house parties. I don't drink EVER, I've had one sip of wine in my life and that is as far as it goes, and I would never stoop so low as to take drugs that kill you.

Speaking of drugs, last year I found that one of my friends had got in with the wrong crowd and was carrying marijuana around school. Some of her friends were selling cigarettes and selling drugs. Me and my best friend went straight to the headmistress with all of this, and snuffed out our friends - but at least we saved a few lives. My closest friend has stopped carrying it around, but we know that the others still sell it and take it, so there's nothing much we can do. For a while, the girls involved didn't talk to me or my best friend, but it's all okay now, and we're actually getting on better with them!

As for me being an anime and videogame nerd, I'm happy where I stand. Nerds have a happier existence because we don't care about what people think of us, whereas popular people are always worrying about people's opinion of them.

I hope my story will be of some use to you all, and I wish you all a happy teenage life!!

- heronprincess23

Marijuana is a grand ole time. You can be a nerd and do pot.

[Defeatist Elitist]

Personally, I would say that teenage life is different for everyone. I'm one of five girls at my school that like anime or videogames, and most of the girls at school are just horrible. They are all the types of girls that wear thousands of layers of fake tan, backcomb their hair, wear ridiculous amounts of make-up, wear tiny dresses even though they're 14 and post pictures of themselves looking downright tacky on Facebook. Unfortunately, these girls are everywhere at my school, and we also get a fair share of those that do the stereotypical teenage stuff, like drink and take drugs and go to house parties. I don't drink EVER, I've had one sip of wine in my life and that is as far as it goes, and I would never stoop so low as to take drugs that kill you.

It kind of annoys me when people take this tack, especially about drugs and alcohol and parties. You are not inherently better in any way than people who do these things, you just have chosen to do different things.

Speaking of drugs, last year I found that one of my friends had got in with the wrong crowd and was carrying marijuana around school. Some of her friends were selling cigarettes and selling drugs. Me and my best friend went straight to the headmistress with all of this, and snuffed out our friends - but at least we saved a few lives. My closest friend has stopped carrying it around, but we know that the others still sell it and take it, so there's nothing much we can do. For a while, the girls involved didn't talk to me or my best friend, but it's all okay now, and we're actually getting on better with them!

Oh come on, you didn't save any lives. I've had tons of friends who did drugs, smoked and drank, and even some who sold drugs, and neither my life or theirs were destroyed by it, especially shit as moderate as marijuana. Unless they have a really terribly serious problem that can only be solved by intervention, I'd say just live and let live.

As for me being an anime and videogame nerd, I'm happy where I stand. Nerds have a happier existence because we don't care about what people think of us, whereas popular people are always worrying about people's opinion of them.

This isn't really true at all. Being happy has significantly more to do with things like just naturally being happy and finding enjoyment more easily, than it does with whether you're a nerd or not. I mean, I would pretty much definitely be classified as a nerd, and my life has been pretty happy, but you can't make blanket statements like that.

[I.M. Gei]

As for me being an anime and videogame nerd, I'm happy where I stand. Nerds have a happier existence because we don't care about what people think of us, whereas popular people are always worrying about people's opinion of them.

I was pretty much a nerd throughout my junior high school and early high school years, and I was incredibly insecure about what other people thought about me.