Oftentimes in Mr. Schwaderer’s English class we reflect on some pretty deep themes. Our discussions have covered everything from existentialism to the inevitability of time.

Just a few weeks ago, Mr. Schwaderer handed out a Billy Collins poem about growing up entitled “On Turning Ten” and asked the class to analyze and make notes on the author’s use of figurative language to convey tone. When we reconvened, the class consensus on tone was both “hopeless and nostalgic.” Basically, it was not a very happy poem.

This “hopeless and nostalgic” attitude of Collins regarding the end of childhood is not shared by everyone. Whitefish High School senior Haley Burger felt excited about growing up at 10 years old and commented, “I don’t think I was very contemplative about the nature of humanity, yet.” She also feels that there isn’t one defining age that determines one’s adulthood. At 10, Haley still felt like a child, which most people can relate to; it would be some years before she felt any transition out of childhood.

There are a few significant ages in one’s life that mark the stages of growing older. While these ages fluctuate among cultures, the basic idea remains the same — assuming more responsibility.

Obtaining a driver’s license is a rite of passage for many 15-year-olds, and it entails a different kind of responsibility.

For Haley, it was the first time she felt any sort of shift from childhood towards adulthood, but instead of straddling that chasm in one leap, she comfortably stepped into “adolescence.”

Growing up is gradual process and in Haley’s words, “there’s not one formula.” Physically reaching adulthood is technically different than psychologically reaching adulthood.

In America, turning 18 means officially becoming an adult under the law, and reaching the age of 21 brings the potential responsibility of consuming alcohol. These are societal responsibilities, rights and conditions that people decided should be thrust upon every American whether they are ready or not, here they come. However, these societal responsibilities do not determine one’s adulthood.

Although she is 18-years-old, Haley doesn’t feel like an adult. This is because she still lives with her parents, continues to attend high school, and hasn’t gone through the single rite of passage that afterwards will feel as if the whole world is at her fingertips — graduation. Haley believes that only once she has graduated college will she truly feel like an adult because “it’s not numbers that make up age, but experiences.”

It’s easy as an older teenager to catch the grown-up fever what with every adult inquiring about future plans. Nevertheless, we can learn a lot from children and from our childhoods. In Haley’s opinion, we shouldn’t completely let go of the child within and people should try to incorporate childhood habits like blatant honesty into their lives today.

“I miss not having to think about what I’m going to do with my life and just thinking ‘oh, I want juice.’”

While the tone for growing up is unique for each person, the class consensus for adulthood is both “hopeful and anxious.”

— Cassidy Grady is a senior at Whitefish High School