It was harder than I had anticipated it would have been to find an essay on my own. Kudos to you, Mr. Kunkle, for finding five! The first essay I found was written by an anonymous author who I inferred to be a girl. I chose this essay because lately growing up has been on my mind. Each day I am swarmed with emails and brochures from colleges and each day it seems as if someone new expects me to know exactly what I want in life. I'm not ready for that!
The individual who wrote "Growing Up to Soon" didn't even get a chance to decided whether or not she wanted to grow up quickly or if she wanted to ride her childhood out as long as she could. When she was twelve she was faced with the difficult task of raising her baby sister almost entirely on her own and when she was seventeen she began to raise her baby brother. She said that, "I was about twelve and should've been enjoying my childhood rather than getting a taste of the adult world." To me, that is sad because when I was twelve I was playing outside with my brothers and I am only four years older than my youngest brother. While I had began to babysit, I sure could not care for a new born baby all on my own! The writer expressed how she missed out on a lot of fun activities, especially during summer time, because she had to care for her younger siblings. It was nice to finally read that, "I repressed the memories of the summer and forgave my parents for what they put me through. I love my family..." I am happy that the writer was able to find light at the end of the tunnel.
"Growing Up Too Soon" sounds like a powerful essay that everyone can relate to. While we may not have experienced such an intense transition into adulthood as the author, I think at one point or another everyone has felt people pushing them out of their childhood. I've also been thinking a lot about growing up lately. Over the summer I accumulated a large number of responsibilities and in a short time I will have more. Little stressors like car payments and cell phone bills accumulate around larger stressors like choosing a college until growing up isn't much fun. In the end, we have to "'[repress] the memories'" of hard times and thank the people who helped us get through them.
ReplyDeleteCora, I really enjoyed this blog and how you were able to relate the essay to your own life. Recently, I too have been engulfed in more responsibility, with this being the first summer summer I have had a job and my license. I have also been bombarded with questions about what ACT test I want to sign up for, what college I want to attend, and what I want to study. However, my responsibilities seem insignificant compared to the girl's in your essay. Although not everyone has had their childhood stripped from them like the girl, everyone can relate somewhat to this essay because childhood doesn't last forever. I especially liked how you related your carefree and fun life at the age of 12 to her huge task of caring for young children. Overall, great job Cora!
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