Fair warning, dear reader: This is a guest post written by my 9th-grade daughter. She’s like her dad. Straight to the point.
I’m currently in high school, which means there are a lot of people around me that are different than me. I’m learning about a lot of new opinions and ideas that are new to me, and many people disagree with my ideas.
One big thing I’m learning is that many other people my age have pretty low self-confidence since this is a time in people’s lives with change and hormones. Many kids don’t know who they are yet, and are still discovering themselves in many ways.
I am very confident of who I am, and I still know down the road that I may change. I intimidate a few people I’ve met for that reason, and I’m very proud of that.
My morals and ideals are close to set in stone and some people who have been mean to me or teased me have been very caught off guard by it.
Classmate: “So, do you have a boyfriend or something?”
Me: “No, I’m not interested in a relationship right now. If I meet someone I like, I might date them, but I’m not actively looking or anything.”
Classmate: “Oh… ok.”
It’s funny looking back on times when people tried to be mean, then I just left them speechless by not being speechless myself. Self-confidence is something that people need to build up over time, and I’m lucky enough to have a lot already.
It’s ok not to be fully prepared for any questions that come your way, but it’s also ok to absolutely destroy the other person in a causal debate in history class.