My Life As A Teenager

Being a teenager is difficult as it is, but being from an Indian traditional family makes it so much harder. It may seem a little stereotypical, but it's true right down to the core. Growing up, I've always been expected to act like an adult but I'm mostly treated like a child. I have so many responsibilities as a young adult and a lot of important things to think about, like trying to figure out my place in the world and where I belong. It's the age where we want to try to be on our own, and learn from our own mistakes.

One of the worst things about being a teenager is constantly being told to be our selves, and to express our selves, but then being judged about our choices. I can say that I build up my own self esteem over and over again because of others disapproving my decisions; I know that my personality is completely self made, and it's driven from the kind of person that I know I want to be. It's challenging, since our parents have complete utter control over our lives, no matter how old or mature we are. Freedom is something we really desire, but cannot get. Throughout my life I've had restrictions on almost everything I can possibly imagine. Those things include, having to dress a certain way, having only a certain type of social network, where I go out, and especially who I hang out with. Personally the feeling of not being able to be around people that I want to, just because my parents don't approve, is one of the most struggling situations because after all, my friends are like the family I choose. Another challenging thing I have go through is fighting to be that perfect person with perfect grades, only so I can avoid disappointment from my parents.

Being a teenager, I am extremely vulnerable. I have the need to express all these emotions that are on overdrive. We feel things more intensely than adults, and because of that, we mostly have no control. All my life, I've had to hide certain feelings from my family, because in the society I live in, they're considered wrong. Hence, the love I feel for this one person, can never be conveyed. 

I understand the parents' need to be strict, because they're afraid that their kids will get out of control. But the thing that my parents don't realize, is that they're the reason it happens. I know my right from wrong, but it almost always differs from my parents, which leads me to resentment, and I choose to rebel and I end up doing things I know I will regret. Every bad decision I make is driven from something that is frustrating me, but others will always just assume that it's because I somehow WANT to be an immature teenager. 

Regardless of all these immensely crucial, irritating, and burdensome situations, I am proud and glad to say, I am alive.

Sukhleen Bachra