Teenage years
Confessions of a Cultural Catholic
My name is Kathleen Marie Patricia, and I grew up Irish Catholic in Boston. Like everyone else I knew, I attended twelve years of parochial school and went to Mass every weekend. I didn’t even know any non-Catholic peers until I was in my teens. These kids went to public school! They were like exotic aliens to me.
By Kathy Copeland Padden5 years ago in Confessions
Hostel Life.
This is the story about two boys staying in the hostel. Now-a-days, people think that students live a freely life in the hostel but this is not always true. Sometimes students wants to live in the hostel to study and built their career which is the main thing in my story Arshad and Aslam were the studying in the college and sharing the same room in the hostel. Arshad was from Multan whereas Aslam was from Layyah. Both the boys belonged to lower-middle class family whereas mostly boys in their hostel belonged to Upper-middle class and rich families. One day, the hostel boys decided to go to their homes in winter vacations but both Arshad and Aslam didn’t want to go back to their homes. All the hostel boys were surprised and asked the reason. Arshad replied “I am from a middle class family. After the expiration of my father in a road accident, my uncle has sent me in the hostel to study and make my career otherwise my uncles and other relatives will try to discontinue my studies and make me earn by myself.One of my uncles wants to make me educated and well settled in my career. I have to study hard for my future.As there is no facility for study in my hometown and no one is studying in higher secondary classes so I can't study well in my house.So I have to stay in hostel to study well and cannot go home". After that, Aslam told “I am an orphan child. After the death of my parents and brother, my maternal uncle and aunt are my guardians but they treated me like a burden. As an adult, I am the only legal heir of my parents money and property, so they cannot take anything from me forcefully. That’s why I have no parental house in reality and I don't want to go to my maternal uncle's house.They are very selfish and want to get rid of me.So I have to stay in hostel". All the boys felt sorry to hear the circumstances which were raised in their life and very necessary for hostel stay for Arshad and Aslam. They decided that they would help them in all circumstances and never let them feel alone in their lives. They also asked them for any financial problems. But both of them refused to get any financial aid from their hostel fellows. Arshad and Aslam both studied hard and got higher grades in their studies.Both of them are now higher grade officers in public sectors.Now they are married and have children. They have happy families and living very happily. It said that the students who live far from their homes in hostels often don't pay attention to their studies and waste their time in other activities.They also involve in criminal activities.Some of them become addict to different drugs.Some become smokers,some drink alcohols. They have no concern with their studies and career.They ruin their lives and their future by indulging in wrong activities. But all the students who live in hostel are not same. Some of them have genuine reason for staying in hostels. Some don't have competitive educational institutions in their areas so they stay at hostels far from their homes to study and to make their future more secure. Some students don't have an opportunity to study in their homes as no feasible place to study due to joint family issues. So they stay at hostels as there are libraries in hostels where one can study with due ease. Hostel life is full of stories to tell. Students from different regions of the country reside there and they become good friends. They share their rooms,dresses,and other things in use. They play different games,study together and help each other in different circumstances.
By A B Muhammad5 years ago in Confessions
The road to my passion
When I was a pre-teen, I remember very vividly starting to make lists about all the things I wanted to do as a girl to improve. I would open my black diary that had a picture of 90s Australian girl group Girlfriend on it, unlock the heart shaped lock and write down my hopes, dreams and ‘beauty’ lists.
By Ange Khoudair5 years ago in Confessions
Dance Drama
1997 was an all around crap year for me. Within the first three weeks my little sister, along with five others, was killed in a horrible accident involving two semi trucks. Aside from the shock of her sudden death, trauma dealing with the knowledge she would need a closed casket viewing, and going through all the firsts with out her; there were the people to deal with. Our community is small, so news of the accident spread quickly and everyone knew about it. Everywhere I went people, even those I didn’t know, would either lower their heads avoiding eye contact or stop me to mumble apologies for my loss. Our home was constantly filled with people coming to give their sympathies. I am an introvert, and naturally awkward, so these interactions were rather draining and embarrassing. I was very thankful everyone was more than willing to be there for us though, it was a difficult time.
By Viltinga Rasytoja5 years ago in Confessions
A Musical Discovery
It's my freshman year of high school. I'm performing in my small, acapella choir, and the teacher is not there. She's on a trip, so as a choir, we have to teach ourselves and make sure we stay productive in our rehearsal. We practice a couple of songs, and eventually, we move on to a song called "Landed." Around the final chorus of the song, we change keys. This isn't the first time the choir changed keys mid-song when they weren't supposed to. However, it's the first time I make a big deal about it. I want to try and prevent the change in keys from happening again so that it doesn't occur during our evening concert.
By Jamie Lammers5 years ago in Confessions
Adapt or Die
I couldn't wait to be a teenager, until scrapes,cuts and bruises were no longer from my friends accidentally pushing me on the playground but now from myself. Tummy aches were no longer from catching the stomach bug but from now the harsh bitter taste of alcohol. Hugs and kisses were not gross anymore but they were now mandatory. My body was not invisible, it became the first thing people judged me off of. And those pills, I guess were still used to take the pain away. As I crumbled to the pieces of my youth slipping away through my tired fingers, I realized I was not meant for today's society. I have turned into the person I used to make fun of, someone who I would see at a restaurant and make a mental note on what I don't want to grow up to be. My morals were so strong but broke so easily. And for what, the acceptance of people I will never see after highschool? These people that I call my friend have mastered manipulation in a way that even I fell for. All I ever wanted was to be in “that” friend group but I read the people wrong, but can I blame myself salt and sugar look the same and are completely different. Ever since I was little I wanted to be a superhero, so the closest thing to that is a doctor. Someone who spends their life saving people from the inevitable, death. When I told my friends about my future they told me I was an idiot and brushed me off their shoulder. The pain I felt was something I have never felt before. My heart felt like it was on fire and then burnt into crisps. My friends have never even considered their future, probably because they don't know if they will make it past twenty with all the smoke in their lungs. I became viewed as trashy because of the people I spent my time with but still wasn't I popular? I knew I didn't fit in but I could not take the risk to detach myself because I could not handle the loneliness I would feel. With all these people around me all the time, how does loneliness still exist with all the souls in the world? When I find a room at a party and can finally put my drink down the tsunami of sadness drowns me. This sadness that they say can be beautiful, what sadness is this? Because my sadness rips me apart from the inside and there isn't anything beautiful about it. I had always wanted my life to be like a romantic movie and I got what I wanted, except I wasn't careful with what I wished for and I ended up being the girl in the love triangle that gets forgotten about. It is like I am a side character in everyone else's life and I can't grab the wheel of my own. I have spent my whole life convincing myself I was a chapter worth following, and then these people came along and don't want to read the ending and now my whole story has fallen apart. My emotions are loose yet again, I'm yelling and I have no idea why. Please, someone save me because I no longer know who I am. I don't know why it bothers me so much when I am not accepted by the people around me because I do not accept them. Sometimes I wish people didn't have opinions. I wish their brains were empty, and their skulls were thin. I wish they didn't know right from wrong, and never thought about my mistakes again. I'm sick of crying, I'm sick of nausea, just because someone thinks low of me. Empty brains seem like the only way I'll ever be free. I look at the world differently than you, and not because I'm a free soul but because I'm a trapped one. It is like the person I want to be is too far to touch as I look at myself in the mirror right in front of me. I keep on telling myself I don't fit in with these people but secretly I think I have become one of them. So Adapt or die. As many times as we've heard it, the lesson doesn't get any easier. Problem is, we're human. We want more than just to survive. We want success. We want to be the best we can be so we fight like hell to get those things. Anything else feels like death.
By Deanna Pappas5 years ago in Confessions
ONCE I WAS ADAPTIVE; NOW I AM GROUNDED
I have seen Pakistan from north to the south; mountains to the sea. Once I was adaptive because I was able to adjust to the new environment easily and quickly. Transition in life, as a new school, new friends, and a new environment, was common mostly every year. Now I am grounded because I have found some best acquaintances without whom I cannot live. Karachi has given me countless and unforgettable memories of my life.
By Nawal Imran5 years ago in Confessions
A time I didn’t fit in
Let’s face it. Being a teenager isn’t easy. You’re going through changes, attempting to find your place, and trying to fit in. High school was not my scene. Is it really anybody’s scene, though? The first thing you’re taught in orientation is to make friends. So you go off and join a club, or a sports team. I was already a competitive cheerleader with a program outside of school, so I couldn’t join anything super time consuming. What’s more of an individual based sport? Oh! Cross Country should be perfect for me! Okay: Join a Sports team? Check. What’s next? The next thing they teach you in orientation is to never fall behind on your class work, but to also take as many college courses as you can before actually going off to college. Okay: Load up on extra courses? Check. So I’ve joined a high school sport’s team on top of an already competitive cheerleading program, and I’ve loaded up on class work. Should be fairly easy. Boy was I wrong.
By Kayaleah Bradley5 years ago in Confessions
Origami and the Origin of Awkwardness
In the beginning of my middle school years, I had an obsession with origami. Oh no no no, this was no ordinary obsession. I couldn’t simply put an end to it and move on with my life. This obsession took root deep in my mind, driving me to constantly fold and create every chance I had. If there was any paper in my house, it would not be there for long. My hands would appear to friends and peers to writhe and fumble with no clear rhyme or reason, but a trained eye could see that I was making art; a cootie catcher to predict the future, star boxes to hold precious belongings, foxes and birds to decorate even the plainest of rooms. All the knowledge I had came from a book of ancient techniques; The Usborne Book of Origami and other Paper Projects. With its wisdom and guidance, I was truly a prodigy in the art of origami.
By Trey Lindquist5 years ago in Confessions
