Teenagers these days are full of dreams, expectations, hopes and a bright, perfect future. However, most of these teenagers end up following what is "expected’ in life; go to school, graduate from university, most preferably as a lawyer or a nurse, get a good job, marry the woman you’ve been dating since you were been 15 years old, live happily and die. It does not sound like a bad life; in fact, there’s no wonder why it’s one of the most sought after. However, what happened to adventure? What happened to mistakes, risks, new stuff, exploring? We are so intent on being better than one another, that sometimes we forget exactly what we are aiming for
Being a University student, I have always dreamed big, but I have also succumbed to the pressure of being the good child of the family. Study, pass, go a step further. Of course, I fully believe that my parents want the best for me, for university will help me eventually when coming to settling down with a job, a life, a family. However, I am eighteen years old. Should I be thinking about settling down? I dream of going abroad, I dream of exploring, I dream of going to concerts and doing voluntary works in India and Kenya, I dream of visiting the ruins that were wonders once, I want to go on a trip that takes me across countries. However, want is a huge word, and wants never seem to materialise. I would have given anything for an opportunity to come across my path, but that’s the thing; opportunities never seem to come along.
I have been raised in a family where the unusual was pushed away, where anything strange or not ordinary was always frowned upon. My parents frowned when my brother got his first tattoo. They frowned when I got 3 piercings in my ear. They frowned when I told them I want to work abroad. They frown about a lot of things, only because they differ from their view of the norm. Unluckily, my parents’ mind-set way of things always seem to push away any opportunities that may come my way, resulting in my wants disintegrating.
Is it possible for a teenager my age to have a chance to live his dreams? We all have dreamed, once or more than once, to live the runaway life; join a travelling circus, a band, a gypsy gang. Travel from one country to another in a smelly, old caravan, living poorly, but care-free and actually happy. In real life, that’s not so possible. Especially when you’re stuck in a small, "perfect’ island in the middle of a sea. Especially when crossing the country takes you just an hour by car. Especially when the older generation’s mind is poisoned by the idea that the norm is the best and only way to live by. Opportunities are rare, and when provided, they are often ignored or shooed away by the elder who seem to forget that we have our own life.
Who knows what will happen once we grow older? Opportunities will multiply in quantity, but will that flame for adventure, for travelling, for living, still burn on in our heart? Will that love for the unknown still persisting us? Will we grab heartedly to every opportunity that crosses our path, or will the fear from the older generation pass on to us? We can only wait and see. Wait and believe.
