13 Going on 30

Unlike Jenna Rink in 13 Going on 30, I did not want to grow up. As a child, I often became sick of my age, and could not wait for my next birthday. That changed when I was 12. It was my last year in elementary school, and moving on scared me. I did not want the endless stress and responsibilities of an adult, and was also fed up with stereotypes and the words, childish and immature. I am also very resistant to change. I did not even want to turn 13.

In high school many people thought I was weird or crazy. I kept being reminded, "You can’t avoid it." That only made me hate growing up more. Students did not want to hang out with me, and kept trying to change my mind and give me reasons why they were excited to grow up. I knew they were being materialistic, and they themselves would not be ready for adulthood for a long time. Though teachers wished students would enjoy their youth, they said to me, "You should be at the age where you’re excited to grow up."

It appeared I won after reaching adulthood. Those, such as me, who did not want to get older gradually learned and handled adulthood pretty well while those, such as Jenna, who couldn’t wait encountered much trouble and wished they were still children. As I progressed through college and enjoyed freedom, I began to wonder why I did not want to graduate from high school or grow up. However, the past few years, I began to understand: I was simpler and did not know as many things as a child, so I didn’t mind the lack of freedom.

After years of adulthood, I would not be happy in childhood. I still wish I could sprinkle some of the wishing dust on myself, and return to some times in the past. However, it would be to fix mistakes. There are many things in the past that I would like to change, such as residence situations and TheOneRing.Com (TORC) membership. However, I wonder if the plans would work out. Maybe I would make things worse or erase myself. Well, I think erasing myself would be better for everyone else.

I also realized that I have made the same mistake as Jenna again and again. She was so focused on the popular and cool clique that she often forgot or didn’t realize who her real friends were. However, she didn’t find out until she was 30. Throughout my life I would encounter people who did something nice for me, whom I heard were nice, or had traits I admired. I would keep trying to be friends with them without much success, and not discover my mistake until it is too late. I would forget or not realize who my real friends are. This recently happened at TORC. However, my real friends understood and still supported me. That is why they are my real friends.