When you first find yourself faced with the reality that you’ve “grown up”

You end up stumped with what you are expected to do.

Regardless of the fact that I spent my formative, adolescent years

Caring for my family and ignoring my “responsibilities” as a teenager,

That did nothing to prepare me for becoming an “adult”.

I use these air quotes – scare quotes as people refer to them now – to emphasize a point.

There is no exact moment where one has grown up.

There is no pivotal point in ones life where they’ve become an adult.

And responsibilities we feel burdened by in our age brackets never cease,

Even if we wish they did.

 

What they don’t tell you about growing up, in short list, is as follows:

No one knows how the hell to do their taxes:

Everyone is using some app, or going to some person,

In hopes of not accidentally messing up some miniscule bit of information

And having the government rain hellfire and brimstone on them.

Getting a job is harder than it looks:

Unless you have previous years of experience or something to really sell you to a company,

You’re essentially ballparked into retail and food jobs

(these aren’t bad and actually give you a lot of positives:

The tolerance to deal with ignorant and annoying people,

A basic understanding of how money works – hint, it sucks the soul out of everyone,

And ultimately a feeling of compassion for others when you’re the customer).

College is beneficial, but so expensive, and students never get enough to cover costs:

Scholarships, loans, and financial aid aside,

It can be hard to financially get through four years of university.

Oh, and by the way,

Not everyone finishes college in four years.

I’m five years in and still have to go to graduate school if I want to reach my dream goal.

Setting a path and having a plan is good,

But I can promise that it takes time and a lot of searching to find what’s right for you.

 

Growing up…glowing up? You are always doing that.

You are constantly becoming the best version of yourself,

With every word you speak and piece you write.

The art you create and the relationships you form shape you into something beautiful.

They form a person so breathtaking,

So mind blowing,

So out of this world that it doesn’t matter what the world didn’t teach you.

If you don’t understand taxes, don’t worry, neither does the guy next to you.

If you’re worried about finding a job, it’s okay, because we all need some help at first.

And if you think college isn’t for you, then that’s cool, you have time.

What I wish they’d given me in a pamphlet,

Or written in a book,

Or handed me when I first entered the “adult” world is this:

Your glow up? It’s already happening.