Wednesday, October 11, 2006
The Late-Teen Crisis
Yeap.
This is the term coined for what I define as...
"A period of self-searching, contemplation and reflection about the past, present and future, experienced by every healthy, growing, schooling teenager, most probably between the ages of 17-20, and studying in a tertiary institute."
How does it play out in real life?
A JC student may question the meaning of it all, all the studies and exams, all the grades and pieces of paper that gets you ahead in this society 'driven by meritocracy'. He laments the lack of recognition for youths with a 'passionate heart', and complains about the rat race that we all are released into once we graduate. He gets no encouragement from university seniors who worsen his mood by saying that uni life is worse than JC life, and the pressures of peers, some of whom start taking up clubbing, smoking, drinking, as if it were habits expected of everyone his age.
Catchphrase: "Get all As. Great. Then what? Get a good job? then what? Retire on a private island? Then what? Die? Great life."
A poly student (and one who is studying architecture, I must add, as there is no other course I know which is more stressful), used to getting straight As and the respect and admiration of academically poorer students, suddenly starts reflecting on life. He contemplates his future, what he can do with a Diploma, which university should he work for, how his upbringing within religion teaches that "the pleasures of the world.. what use are they? Where moths and maggots destroy, but instead seek after the rewards of Heaven, which is eternal.."
Catchphrase: "What is the meaning of this all? Huh? What's the use of losing so much sleep and rest, over meaningless drawings that are not going to be of much use in the future, much less in Heaven? I'd rather leave it all behind, follow my calling and go to a poor country, and make a difference amongst the famished, disease-stricken youth, who cannot even imagine having a tiny portion of what I enjoy..."
jOhn thought at 10:35 AM
