Growing Up Too Fast Does Not Make You Weak
The term “growing up too fast” means to forcingly meet the reality of life when you are not ready. My first experience of meeting reality was when cockroaches made my bathroom their habitat and when grub worms blocked the water flow of the hose in my bathroom. There was no time for me to enjoy childhood like others. I balanced school and work as a fourteen year old. However, these experiences of growing up too fast have shaped me into who I am now. I learned many lessons that made me independent and strong.
However, many outsiders only view the negative sides of growing up too fast. They do not acknowledge how those hardships lead to success. In her essay, “How Growing Up Too Fast Impacts Every Moment of Your Adult Life,” the author addresses the struggles of facing adult responsibilities early. She states that growing up too fast creates too much pressure for younger generations. As a result, she states that you may develop an inferiority complex, anxiety, and other difficulties. While this could be true, she fails to highlight how facing adult responsibilities in childhood can benefit younger generations by allowing them to use these experiences to become more successful in their future career.
The author reveals how the gap in responsibilities compared to other peers can cause anxiety and an inferiority complex because they often feel insecure about not being able to enjoy their childhood as others do. The author shares her story of when she had to pay for her own “meals, clothes, school supplies, and other expenses” as a fourteen year old. She mentions how as a result, she felt “anxiety every time” she “craved a taco or wanted to go to the movies with friends.” Many outsiders believe that forcing adult responsibilities such as financial expenses, onto younger generations is bad because it can mentally drain a child and create doubts and anxiety about their future. The author also mentions how she felt “horribly ashamed” when she had to “call a close friend” when her debit card was declined at a salon. The author was insecure about her financial situation and the different lifestyle she had compared to her peers. She believes that “when you’re a child, that’s supposed to be your priority.”
However, she fails to realize how facing adult responsibilities as a child helps younger people to become independent. The author believes that “being forced to make adult decisions when you’re a child means you have to learn how the world works with your hands tied behind your back and blindfolded.” Making adult responsibilities as a child is difficult, however, you get to access the conflicts everyone goes through before them. This means that once you’re actually in the stage of life that deals with many responsibilities, these experiences will come to use. I had an inferiority complex about my financial situation just like the author. Similarly to the author’s experience, I started working at fourteen to support my family and my needs. From this experience, I learned how to manage money earlier than others. I learned how to save, how to do taxes, how to plan for emergency expenses, and more. Currently, I am financially independent as I pay for my own rent, food, and car in Los Angeles as an eighteen year old student. People used to feel bad for me as I worked at a very young age to support my family. Now, those people ask me for advice and look up to my financial independence. By growing up too fast, I also learned how to go through conflicts with my own strength. When parents babysit their children and do not let them go through obstacles in life, they don’t get to learn how to solve their own conflicts. This leads them to fall behind other people in their age group. When younger generations are not given a chance to learn from their mistakes, they will never be able to go through something harder. Growing up too fast allows people to become independent and strengthen them to accomplish their needs without other people’s help.
The lessons learned from growing up too fast as a child allows people to have more work ethic and social skills in their adult life. Time management is one of the most important factors at work and school. The pressure from growing up too fast can actually help younger generations to manage time more responsibly. For example, when we were younger, we were pressured to finish our homework. Even though that pressure might not have been that big, it was still effective because it motivated us to complete work on time. Therefore, pressure that comes from growing up too fast actually can help an individual to stay on track with their responsibilities. Similarly, early responsibilities help younger generations in their workplace because it makes them capable of high demands. When a person faces many obstacles in their life, they will become more confident in their abilities to get through something worse. Facing conflicts in life at a young age will allow them to become stronger. I have faced many responsibilities since middle school. Growing up too fast and working at an early age allowed me to have more work ethic and interpersonal skills than other people in my age group. There are people at my work who are older than me but are at risk of getting fired because they did not get a lot of chances to challenge and improve their skills. This is a result of facing adult responsibilities too late. In my previous job, I earned the title of being the youngest manager when I was sixteen. One thing they ask me is how am I so good at handling work at a young age. I never started off as a good worker, it was the harsh reality that forced me to become a great one. Therefore, growing up too fast helps people succeed in their future career.
Growing up too fast is not a factor of weakness in life, instead it is a milestone that allows one to become more successful. Growing up too fast should not be viewed as unfortunate. Instead, it should be viewed as a factor that allows people to become more successful in the future. By facing adult responsibilities early, we become more prepared for our jobs and hardships in our adult life. Despite the challenges I went through, I now enjoy the life that I want to live. The challenges that we encounter from growing up too fast will pay off in the future.
