Coming of age is the transitional time in a person’s life when they stand in the middle of childhood and adulthood. It is the time in your life when you are not old enough to vote yet but trick-or-treating is regarded as childish. You’re immature if you still like Disney but are not ready to experience the wildness of a high school party. You want to hold onto every second of the summer, not wanting to lose the childlike innocence of freedom. You want to spend as much time with your best friends because in a few years you may all be across the country from each other. You constantly joke with your friends about being behind the wheel  because in all honesty you can’t handle the fact that you’re legally allowed to start learning.  You spend your sweet 16 playing Limbo and Twister because it feels right. You understand that most other sweet sixteen parties are spent in other ways and are grateful you and your friends are still entertained by karaoke battles.  You take pictures at every event,despite the groans of those around you because you want to hold onto the here and now of the moment. Most people your age can’t wait for the future and for “their lives to truly begin” but you truly don’t want that. You wish you could freeze time as all of a sudden everything is moving too fast. However there are no rewind or fast forward buttons in real life. You want to be a kid as long as you physically can, purely because the idea of your childhood ending frightens you. While you truly hate changes and want to resist growing up, you enjoy the benefits of being older. You enjoy the freedom of exploring the center with your friends and have wanted to see your favorite artists in concert  since you were in the third grade. You are finally performing in high school shows, a dream you didn’t realize has been with you since you were little. You are sharing your voice through your newspaper articles, talking about difficult topics others would have avoided.  You are bettering yourself for the good of those around you, trying to make the world better in the process. You volunteer as a camp counselor for your old summer camp, remembering who you were when you were a camper.  You realize that you cannot press pause(no matter how much you wish you could) and that maybe just maybe the changes headed your way are good for you. Maybe just maybe you can handle it. Maybe you’re coming  of age and maybe you’re  handling it beautifully even if you don’t think you are.  Maybe you are more ready for what the future holds and maybe you’re on your way to becoming the person you were always meant to be.