Are you 18?

18 is a big year, so says everyone.

Why is it a big year? I’m a few months in, and I’m still not sure of the answer.

When I say I’m 18, I hear all the hidden words in the number.

Words like,

“I have potential”

“Give me ten years, and I’ll really be a good person”

“I’m inexperienced now, but you just wait until my next birthday”

I tell potential employers that I’m 18, and assure them that it is an advantage.

They look at me, maybe touched by my enthusiasm and say “OK, but come back in a few years”

No.

I won’t be 18 in a few years.

I’ll be older.

I’ll be distant.

I’ll be “experienced” in the way that I’ll know what not to say.

I don’t see that as an advantage.

Why do I have to spend my life waiting for someone to take me seriously?

What is the point of years 1-20 if no one expects you to do anything well?

 I’m an 18 year old and I started a blog.

But people are hesitant to take it seriously- I’m only 18.

So in five years when I have the same material as every other blog, that’s when I will become a person. That’s when I will be a writer. With enough years under my belt, that’s when I can call myself an author without laughter being heard.

A book I write now is a fun project, in ten years it’s a masterpiece.

Why?

Is life meant to be spent waiting for the next part?

Youth is a strength, youth is an advantage, and I’ll never have it again.

Don’t the young people deserve a voice?

A voice that adults care to listen to?

If you are reading this, kudos to you.

You are reading an 18 year olds blog.

I am angry because I am 18 and I can be more than what other people see in me.

I am 18, and I am angry, and therefore I’ll do something great.

Because youth takes advantage, and 18 year olds don’t wait.