Television: expectations unmet and promises unkept

Ever since I was in my Huggies years, I’ve wanted to be a big kid. How can I take it back? From the “Pussycat Dolls” convincing me how amazing growing up would be or “High School Musical” giving me unrealistic expectations, (I still have yet to break out in song in the middle of the cafeteria). I feel cheated, like these years are more like the confusing ones instead of the best.

Of course, there’s good things that come with finally being a teenager. Who doesn’t love choosing if they should eat another bag of popcorn, while binge watching yet another Netflix series? Responsibility is one of my favorite parts of growing into my double digits. When I was younger, I always thought responsibility meant I could finally watch that scary movie by myself or go to the store and spend all the money I had saved in my pink piggy bank. Almost 10 years later, and I’m still petrified of horror films and have gained a shopping problem.

I blame my let down of a growing teen’s life on television. I’m also a little annoyed that Tunstall doesn’t offer dorms like PCA or have a two story lunchroom, which would be perfect for solving all my problems with song. Who wouldn’t be? I may only be a sophomore but unless we get detention that could possibly lead to the love of my life, my expectations fall short.

Being a 15-year-old girl isn’t as glamorous as Clueless sets it out to be either. Whether I have my permit or license, the only hot rod I will be driving is my mom’s mini van. Even though I’m not a VP at a huge design office, hard work is still put into growing up. Keeping my GPA high and my spirit higher is surprisingly tougher than it may look. Walking around with my mom’s heels on as an 11-year-old is surely paying off.

Unlike the many wardrobe changes, coming to school in sweatpants is a decision I have to refrain from making. Doing my own make-up and hair is actually hard. Also, it’s not effortless to get the perfect curls as it’s made out to be. I would rather have a group of friends like Carly, Sam, and Freddy than a perfect winged eyeliner.

Classes are more than just a life lesson. Thanks for teaching me nothing Mr. Feeny and giving me unrealistic expectations, Boy Meets World. There are also more than four major students in a class that have opinions. Even though we all have a Cat or Jade in the class, it will never be the same. It was pretty great imagining high school to be this big magical place where kids can be exceptional and have specific classes for being a musical prodigy or computer genius.

Chorus is fun though, I guess.

 Degrassi set my emotions over the edge the first day of high school. I went straight to find the school bully and made sure to avoid a swirly.

I still enjoy being a normal teen going to a great school. I genuinely feel like if I got my head in the game or lived the best of both worlds, I would be living these days a little more dazed and a lot less confused.