Concerns of a young woman in 2020
So you end high school, everything is new, you have to do mature choices and decide what you will do for the rest of your life. That sounds kind of scary, right? Yes, it is.
I’m not trying to “reclamar de barriga cheia”, a Portuguese saying that means you are complaining about something when you have so much nice things in life already (the literal translation is “complain with a full belly”), however, every part of life has it on struggles and problems, so If you think that this concern is a banal thing, stop, because you probably had or is going to have the same feeling as I have one day, it can be a little bit light, without making a difference in or life, but it’s going to happen.
Through this view we can analyze that teenagers have a lot of pressure when they finish their studies, needing to decide if they are going to be able to afford college because the tuition has been increasing too, “From 2008 to 2018, the average tuition at four-year public colleges increased in all 50 states. On average, tuition at these schools has increased by 37%”, according to a 2019 report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities [1] (link below).
If you can afford college, you will have to decide what you are going to major in, Medicine? Engineering? Law? “Wait… Philosophy? Are you kidding me?” Yes, even If you find something you like, you will have to predict If you are going to be able to have a nice income with your salary, maybe you will need to give up your dreams and become unhappy every day, but who cares? You’ll have a big apartment to live in.
The thing is, the young people are wasting their youth.
They generally feel lost, they have to prepare for the SATs, or other exams they have to take, so maybe they are wasting the chance they have to be with their friend for the last time before they split-up. However, If they don’t prepare themselves for these exams, they are also wasting their chance to study while “fresh from school”. So, what’s the right choice to do? There is none. Every experience leads to a different path and we can’t generalize, but I’m currently in this situation to, study or party?
Both.
It would be a lie If I say that it is easy, I have to juggle everything so I’m able to be socially active and study hard. The truth is, I can’t do that completely, but I try and it is nice to live this moment, live my youth, hang out with my friends, and met my boyfriend one day and the other get my face into the books. I like it, and it’s working.
Sometimes I’m scared of the future, of making bad decisions and regretting them, but… That is how life works, we learn from the consequences of our actions, and the best part is when you can do that with your friends and family to support you, to guide you to be a better person.
In conclusion, life is full of concerns, from choosing your first outfit to school when you’re 8, to managing how you’re going to pay the bills at 40, the thing is that we live each moment in the present, so it may seem very big and scary, but when we get through it we see that it was a breeze that we made a storm.
“So what are you going to do my writer?” You may ask.
I still don’t know exactly yet, but I will figure it out when it comes. Now, I’ll live my moment of the end of 2020 and begin of 2021. Will I be able to get into my dream college and major in journalism? I don’t know, but I know that I’ll try.
Thanks for reading this,
I hope to see you next time.
Useful links:
Tuition increase:
A song that resumes this text:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL4uhaQ58Rk&ab_channel=Maroon5VEVO
