Sixteen is a magical age. It's that middle milestone between 13 (not a pre-teen anymore) and 18 (get to vote). It is the age where most kids in this country get their driver's license (first taste of serious adult responsibility without the burden of paying for it).
Would I want to be sixteen again? Only if I could retain the knowledge I have now. What would I do differently?
1. No doubt I would have worked harder for better grades and done whatever else I could to get college scholarships. I have now been in the workforce full time for going on 26 years and while I am doing OK career-wise, the working world is defintely kinder to college grads (in both respect and pay).
2. I would not have asked my friend J from Michigan to take me to my Junior Prom. It took him weeks to write back and tell me no, during which time R asked me but I couldn't say yes because I was waiting for J to answer. By the time J did answer, R was going with somebody else. Back then it was not cool to go to prom with your girlfriends...you had to have a date. (I did end up going...remind me to tell you that story sometime.)
3. I would have tried out for the pom pom squad instead of majorettes. Pom poms were definitely cooler, but there were more openings on majorettes that year so my chances of making it were better (I did make it). But I know now that I could have made pom poms with a little more confidence.
To be sixteen in this country generally means you are dealing with what I have described above...school, grades, driving, dating. These are serious issues. But as you struggle through your daily lives, you may want to remind yourself that you are blessed with an abundance of choices and opportunities. It's not that way everywhere.
Be glad you are not a sixteen year old orphan in the Ukraine, where you are forced out onto the street to make it on your own. My friend Larry at Out of the Blue is asking for our support to send these kids some help. This would be a good project for your youth club or Sunday School class. You can share your blessings and make the lives of some kids your own age a whole lot easier.
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