Hi everyone! Welcome or welcome back to The Teen Safe Zone, where it's safe for teens to be themselves! In today's post, we will be discussing going through, as I like to call it, a "mid-teenage identity crisis." A "mid-teenage identity crisis" occurs when you feel as if you have your entire life at your feet right now and are completely unsure of who you want to be in this world. Believe it or not, the majority, if not all, teenagers go through this at least once throughout their teen years, so you are not alone.
I have been struggling with this exact issue for maybe about a year now. Although I am still trying to navigate this issue, I would like to share my thoughts and experiences, hoping that this would be relatable for another teen somewhere out there. Because we all know, the best and most relatable advice always comes from the people who have experienced it.
I think it's very common to experience this feeling when you start high school or somewhere between your middle school and high school years; this is when I started experiencing this feeling. When I was in middle school, I was so excited to start high school and I was so certain about the things I planned and looked forward to during and after high school. However, when high school finally started, it was like all of my plans were turned upside down and I started to question everything in my life. I literally scrapped all of the plans I had up until that point. Personally, I strongly experience this feeling when I start thinking about going to college and choosing my career.
For the vast majority of my life, I always planned to become a teacher, and I was certain that this career was what I wanted to do in my life. Then, when the last year of middle school came (8th grade here in the US), I went through so many career changes, and to me, I felt like it was "too late" and that "I should've already had this planned out". Everything felt so last minute, although I was literally only 13. I'm pretty sure many of you all have experienced something along the same lines here.
I'm going through so much confusion about who I want to be in this world. I went from wanting to be a teacher, to being a realtor, to becoming a doctor, and now I'm thinking of possibly becoming a therapist. I've tried making check lists of all of these careers and seeing if any of them have something in common, but it feels nearly impossible to try to piece this puzzle together. The only thing I know is that I would like to have a career that helps people. However, this still leaves so many possible career options.
Even worse, when you get around late-middle school years and most definitely entering high school, it seems like everyone already expects that you know your career choice. When I was in 8th grade, I had to take a required career elective, and I feel that it only sparked my confusion about my career choice even more.
I am now about to enter into my sophomore year of high school. I am still unsure about my career choice, and I plan to take dual credits for college this year, so that doesn't make it any better. However, I want this post to be an eye-opener to other teens that 1. You are not the only teenager who is confused about their identity. The majority of your peers who seem to have it "all together" are also probably going through the same thing as you. This stage is just another "test" in life. 2. You don't need to have it all figured out right now! Don't pressure yourself if you are just uncertain about things in life. Most definitely, never force yourself to do something just because others tell you to hurry up and do something. Take as much time as you need to make sure that this is what you want to be in life.
Well, I hope you all enjoyed today's post! If you want to contact me about anything, please visit the "Contact Us" page on this blog where we can privately talk! NEW POSTS EVERY SUNDAY! - Lexi
Going through the transition of high school to adulthood is so confusing. If you're in high school, I'm pretty sure you all know what I'm talking about lol. The pressure to know who you are / going to be is so surreal. We shouldn't be 8th graders / early high schools stressing about things that are years away. It's great to make plans, but no one ever tells you that it's also easy to stress about the future!
This is literally the exact same thing I am going through! Thank you so much for the motivation!