How to Be a Teen.


Danneskjold

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So basically my friend and I got in a discussion about whether being a teen was about putting yourself in the best possible position for when you're older so you can live it up then, or living it up now as much as you can as long as you don't sacrifice TOO much when you're older. What do you guys think?

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So basically my friend and I got in a discussion about whether being a teen was about putting yourself in the best possible position for when you're older so you can live it up then, or living it up now as much as you can as long as you don't sacrifice TOO much when you're older. What do you guys think?

Life is a cycle.

Be a teen—and live it up.

Be an adult—and live it up.

Be a married person—and live it up.

Work hard—and live it up.

Middle aged—and living it up.

Old age—still have health and living it up.

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So basically my friend and I got in a discussion about whether being a teen was about putting yourself in the best possible position for when you're older so you can live it up then, or living it up now as much as you can as long as you don't sacrifice TOO much when you're older. What do you guys think?

Looking back on my life, I've often said that life begins in college. Of course, my childhood and adolescence really sucked, so that makes a difference. But the really good stuff started to happen around then. More freedom and more responsibility mean a better life, and you don't have to give up any of the benefits of childhood when you grow up; you just keep the good stuff and add to it! My memories of the pre-college time are extremely vague; life just got SO much better after that.

I didn't realize at the time just how many doors would open for me as a result of having gone to a "name" school. It helps to go to a school that people recognize and respect as opposed to Podunk Community College. It will open career doors for you 20 and 30 years from now even if your grades were mediocre. Of course, being on Dean's List will help, though, because people WILL ask for transcripts for the first several years, and you may decide to do post-grad work someday. At some point, though, all that matters is where you went and what your resume says about your job experience.

It never pays to sacrifice EVERYTHING for the future, because it backfires on you and you end up rebelling against your own self-denial and burning out. But decide on what's most important and remember that life begins with adulthood; childhood and adolescence are pretty much a preparation for the good stuff!

In particular, a criminal or drug/alcohol use record can really wreck your life. Don't even think about risking them. They can permanently destroy your possibility of owning firearms, getting a security clearance, etc. even 20 or 30 years down the road. It's really sad that going into rehab, which ought to be encouraged, can also leave behind a record that can ruin one's life. And even if you yourself are clean, hanging around with the wrong friends can still get you a record by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Very scary thought if you someday want a Jack Bauer kind of job.

Just some random thoughts.

Judith

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Learn and learn to think and play enough that learning to think is never tarred with the idea that it is not fun or, worse, that it is anti-fun. Then, because learning and thinking are fun, be committed to doing it the rest of your life, perhaps while playing hard along the way in periodic spurts. Life often goes to the tortoise, not necessarily to the hare.

But be sure to really make your choices yourself, so when you realize the consequences, good or bad, you can at least accept them as your own choice and your own responsibility. Be prepared to live with that.

As Victor was pointing out, all of life counts and every phase of it can be good. If one phase is not, then you can still hope to make several other phases of life great, as Judith apparently did from college on. So far, I have enjoyed all of my phases, though my undergraduate years were probably my least favorite. I felt as though I was submerged in the most alien atmosphere of my life then, with the exception of the draft army.

I went to a good college and then to graduate school, after a side trip from grad school to Vietnam. My thesis adviser was more important than which colleges I went to. Of course, if you do not get a Ph.D., then which colleges you go to matters more. Nonetheless, people have been very successful whether they went to a small teaching college or they went to MIT or Harvard. What you put into your profession is more important than where you went to school.

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