It’s all about the vintage

“If you spent your life concentrating on what everyone else thought of you, would you forget who you were? What if the face you showed the world turned out to be a mask with nothing beneath it?”- Jodi Picoult 

Being a teenager is certainly not a piece of cake. It's the time of your life when you aren't sure if you are supposed to sit with the kids or the adults at a family gathering. It's the time when you're questioned, rather interrogated, for your future choices and accordingly judged. The so-called esteemed society hurls the relentless and unwanted opinions at you. “Best friends forever” turn into strangers, even enemies with the snap of your fingers but the transition is still blurry to you. 

They no longer even closely resemble the people, with whom you created some of the best memories of your life. If this wasn't enough already, add the dreaded social media into the picture which exposes you to the world of perfect models, families and lifestyles through a medium that profits off your insecurities. You also start putting up a facade as a result of the subconscious comparison by self-loathing and self-deprecating yourself.  Somewhere in the process, you tend to create and live within the fake bubble of your personality, losing your real self. Soon, this bubble becomes suffocating and snatches away your happiness.

Therefore, the key to living a happy life is to be ourselves by accepting every flaw and imperfection unapologetically. Before being severely affected by something, ask yourself 'would this decision matter in 10 years'? If the answer is no, then stop fretting over it. Cut yourself some slack. You have one life. A small temporary inconvenience is never worth losing this precious time. To survive, you need to learn how to say no and set boundaries. Pleasing people won't get you far. Of course, there will be tough times, although you need to remember that there is always light at the end of a tunnel. A single incident won't ever ruin your whole life ahead until and unless it was a game of Jenga.

KavyaKapoor (IBDP Sr)

Trust me, growing up as teenagers can be a petrifying and unassertive affair for many. You face several parental, psychological and societal pressures, and I'm one of those very teenagers myself who can relate. The stress and anxiety that comes with academics, a desire or more like, an absolute need to 'fit in' and the ever-existing thought of getting the over-hyped social acceptance can weigh you down. Meanwhile, there are a plethora of other seemingly small daily inconveniences that add up to the already prevailing mental stress and suddenly feel endless. 

Realizing that such problems are an essential part of this whole experience is exceedingly crucial. 

Adolescence sets the stage for adulthood. I believe that such hurdles are subjected to fade after a certain period eventually, and hence, you shouldn't pay much heed to them. Instead, we need to learn how to surpass and let go of them. In that case, parental or adult advising or even supervising can be tremendously useful, just like it was for me. My parents are a tremendous role model; they've continually supported me to go onward irrespective of all the hurdles keen to trip me over. Indeed it is rightly said, ‘ No pain, no gain’.

Jaipreet Goindi (IBDP Sr)

It's been just one year since I have joined IB board. I was quite used to the same criteria and ways of gaining knowledge at my previous school. It took me time to adapt to a diverse and different environment as well as to open up to new students, but it all depends on your inner mental strength and confidence. It is not that one has to prove oneself to the school but also to yourself. Being in the senior-most class puts an extra bit of responsibility and it feel like a burden of always having to live up to the expectations of my teachers and family. On the other hand if talking about family, I being the eldest have to sail in a boat loaded with expectations and responsibilities. My parents project me as a role model for my younger brother and cousins and I always have to be their knight in shining armour. We all in different phases of life have experienced situations where we have often felt a sense of maturity and responsibility. As students, we have a lot of pressure and burden of different things, and we sometimes tend to be confused and worsen the situation. But we should always keep on reassuring ourselves that life has much more to offer. These responsibilities and pressures  will always be just a small part of it. Let us all learn to embrace them and carry on with a gleaming smile on our faces along this path called life.

Ishani Manocha( IBDP Sr.)