Everything Is Under Control... Sort of

We (teenagers) all say it at least once a week. "Mom, I have it under control," or "I can handle this on my own," but do we really? No. We would like to think we can handle everything ourselves because in less than a year, we will hopefully be going to college or moving out on our own, and we should be able to juggle our own schedule and work out our issues. If only growing up were that easy, but it makes for a lot of good books such as All the Pretty Horses. Coming of age stories are pretty common in this era because we have become so dependent and cannot just marry at fourteen and stand on our own. In American culture, we are slowly woven into society by going to college and then getting a secure job and renting an apartment. But for example in All the Pretty Horses, John Grady leaves his father at sixteen to go to an entirely different country with no plan or income. Over the years so much has changed regarding "growing up." It used to be when you became old enough you got a job to support your family or went off on your own; now, we all go to high school then graduate and have our parents pay outrageous amounts of money for further education so we can have assured success. John Grady did struggle and had to sleep in the middle of a field sometimes, but he was able to really mature and become his own person. We need to be more like John Grady because how are we expected to be independent when we do not pay for anything or truly understand how to struggle? "Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." -Winston Churchill