june 15, 2019: about a year ago, i wrote about being 16 and how turning 16 was supposed to be this *big thing* when it kind of wasn’t. now, a month from turning 17, i think i can say that being 16 was overrated.
ya paints being 16 as this big THING. so many books tell the story of 16 year old girls fighting governments, and more realistically: falling in love, finding themselves, or dealing with some big life change. no one ever talks about 16 and junior year though. i feel like every ya book portraying a 16 year old girls skips over the biggest part of actually being 16, which is junior year.
maybe this is different for everyone, because not everyone takes school as seriously as i do and i don’t mean to bitch about school, but being 16 and a junior was definitely one of the hardest things i have had to do in my short short life.
like it was truly a year like no other. never in my life have i ever experienced so much stress, anxiety, and learning through mistakes than junior year. and i’m sure many can agree with me when i say that being 16 was hard. it’s not to deny that a lot of great things happened to me while i was 16, but looking back, i struggled a good amount this year, no doubt and i think i struggled more this year than anything else.
ya definitely glorifies being a teenager and being 16. authors don’t ever write about the countless hours studying for ap classes, sats, and the ap test cramming that happens the weeks before ap testing season. authors don’t ever write about the cups of coffee, sleep deprivation, or trying to balance school and a social life. being 16 is not as great as every ya book seems and i just think that (although its not interesting at all) stories need to be including the dirty side of being 16 and what academics bring with that.
for once, i want a story not about a girl who falls in love, but one who has to deal with the very normal and every day pressures of having colleges watching your junior year transcript. one who has to deal with having falling out with friends, one who isn’t stressing about whether this person likes me or not, but why the pile of school work seems to be unending.
and sure, not all my expectations on being 16 was built off of ya but also culture, society, and movies. however, ya strives to be realistic, and it really just isn’t realistic for every 16 year old to have a smooth sailing junior year. even if the characters aren’t cramming for tests, there has to be friend falling outs, family issues, or just struggling in finding who you are. not everyone get’s into relationships or finds their first love when they’re 16.
but lmaooooo glad thats over !!
this post is a mooooood. definitely don’t miss being 16 HAHA but each year just comes with its own new set of problems :’) happy birthday again kaitlin!! much love <3
Completely agree with you; even if you’re using YA books as escapism, it isn’t a bad idea to show characters that struggle with everyday things, and education seems to be largely ignored in these books (prom isn’t, oh no! but the countless hours of stufy, the anxiety, all those notes and maps and binders full of stuff to analyze and learn… it’s a huge part of your life at that stage, and it should be dealt with, I think)
Also, Happy birthday!!
– Reese