Coming of Age; Finding Myself.

Thinking about the past and all the things I have gone through, I can see that I have indeed "come of age." Coming of age to me means to take responsibility of your own actions, feel more independent and to have more confidence in yourself.

For me, my "coming of age" experience began when I started high school. Coming from a private school, I knew public school would be a challenge for me. I was used to a small campus, with only 46 students in each grade. In private school, no matter what grade you were, we would get along. I could name everyone from kindergarten to eighth grade, I was that close with everyone. As the first day of high school began, I could see everybody chatting and laughing with their friends. I felt almost like a loner. I was so used to everybody knowing me. I had to gain confidence in myself and make new friends. I had to change my personality from shy to affable and vivacious. Doing this, made me make new friends. As freshman year flew by, other things started changing about me besides my personality. I started to dress and talk different. I went from slippers to shoes, jeans to shorts and short hair to long hair. I even went from shirts with awful kiddy designs on them to ones with nice designs that match my age. In addition I even started listening to more hip-hop and alternative music rather than r&b music.

As the beginning of sophomore year began, I yet to come across another “coming of age” experience. Couple days before school began, I went to the DMV to take my permit test. I finished the test in exactly 10 minuets. As I turned in my test, the lady slowly corrects the test in front of me. Once she was finished she looks at me with a nice sweet smile and says “ You passed! “ I was so happy, from there I felt like a new person. It made me feel like a grown up and that I have new responsibilities to follow. I knew from there, I was not a kid anymore, I was starting to become a young adult.

Coming of age can happen at anytime. We all mature at our own pace. I still have many challenging years ahead of me, and many new things to learn and accomplish. My ambition in life is to see me for who I truly am, I cannot do that until I fully “come of age.”