history isn't history when you're living it...

A few things yesterday at one of the inner city schools (that Project Upward Bound sends us to) caused me to remember what it was like to be a teenager, so young, so full of potential, and yet, so ...sensitive. When you are a teen, your whole world is your high school. In fact, you can't really picture anything outside of that setting. Home and school, home and school. Even if you have a job, its only for a few hours, then its back to the revolving door of home and school.
Teens see the same people everyday, and if I can recall, for me it was a time of discovering who I was in comparison to everybody I knew. My world was small then.
And so it is for the highschoolers I interact with at work. I am involved in an afterschool program as part of Project Upward Bound, this is a wonderful opportunity to make a difference in the life of a young person.
So yesterday, I saw a little of myself in one of the girls, and it took me back to when I was young, a teenager, and even into my early 20's. Back then, I couldn't see past the next day, or hour. And for what I could not see, I filled in the blanks with my own expectations and imaginations.
And so it was for this girl. I recognized the cry she had..someone broke her heart. She was a good girl, had an afterschool job and was sucessful in her academics. But her passion at that hour, was for a boy. Now from my limited knowledge of the male gender, at that age, it seems to be that they are not really interested in dreams of picket fences and small children. But leave it to us girls, thanks to a fast track to maturity, were already sizing up relationship statuses. I knew this student was dedicated to her crush, like Jay Gatsby to Daisy. Only thing is the boy was just being, (no offense) a boy.
I wanted to tell her it would be okay, but I knew, when you are in that deep, dark place, even as a 16 year old, you think the world has imploded. I wanted to cream that boy, but I knew, this happens everyday. What solves the problem? I don't know, maybe her true love will come soon, or maybe she will wait in the wings for a few years.
If only we could enjoy and respect the wait....Ah, the lessons from the lives of highschoolers.