Fears for the Future

As teenagers in today’s world, we sit back and watch history unfold before our very eyes. I can’t help but question what our future looks like.

Let me introduce myself. My name is Kirsten Carman and I am a female high school sophomore. I’ve been fortunate enough to grow up with parents who push me to be the absolute best I can be and are the reason I work hard in school and do well. I have a younger brother who looks up to me and inspires me to be a great role model and a big dog with separation anxiety that has taught me to have patience and to be caring. I’ve travelled, explored, met so many amazing people, had the opportunity to try so many different and cool things, and I am grateful to have made memories that will last a lifetime. Yes, I have dealt with my share of bullies, middle school drama, and insecurities but over the years I’ve learned how to deal with them and not let anything get in the way. 

So, if you ask me, I’ve lived a pretty good life. But I’ve gotten to the point in my life where almost every dinner conversation with my parents, or every phone call with my grandfather revolves around what path I am going to take after high school and what I want to do with my life. Where do I want to go to school? What am I interested in? Where do I want to be in a few years? These questions fill my mind. On January 6th, 2021, I sat with my family in shock and disbelief, as our Capitol Building was under attack and the country was turning on each other. I began to ask myself different questions. What does the future actually look like? Should I be worried for my future and the future of my peers? How will we survive in the ‘real world’?

As we live through history, with no valid reason to share our opinions, teenagers watch as everything unfolds before our very eyes. I believe that what we live through during our teenage years will help us learn. We will be able to use these lessons to change the world. I believe my generation will find a way to stop repeating history and save our nation and world when we are in power. 

Setting a Foundation for the Future

If you ask any adult, they will tell you how their years in high school were some of the most amazing and teachable moments in their life. During the short four years you experience in high school you learn what you should and should not do. You learn lessons that are more than just algebra equations and writing essays, but rather lessons that will help you in the real world. 

I, along with millions of other high school students around the world, are watching these significant years of our lives being stolen from us and locked down. Living in a world facing a global pandemic, teenagers are stuck in their homes with little to no contact with their peers. Instead of worrying about getting an A on a test, or going to that party, we are instead worrying about how we will avoid the coronavirus and how we will keep ourselves and our families safe. 

At a time where you get to pick any path you want to take in your future, you get to experience different things that may encourage you to go a certain way in life and meet people who will inspire you to set a foundation for your future. We are being robbed of these opportunities. Sure, I’m only a sophomore in high school. I don’t really need to have my entire future planned out, but I should have an idea of what I want it to look like. And due to the fact that I’ve been stuck at home for the last year, I don’t.

You’ll remember your years in high school forever. Your homecoming games, your prom dates, who won Sports Night, life lessons that you keep forever. These are things you’ll never forget. However, for our teenagers today, their high school memories will be hybrid learning, masks, and Zoom calls. None of these will prepare us for what the future holds.

Eyes Closed, Mouths Shut

Not only have teenagers had to spend the last year in lockdown away from friends and family in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, we’ve also watched as our country has split in half and turned on each other in a political war. With most of us under 18, our opinions are invalid and pushed aside because to most people, it doesn’t matter. So, we sit and watch as protests and riots take place all around the country. We watch as leaders are invoking violence on our very own Capitol building. 

In the last year, this is what truly has frightened me the most. I am afraid to go to schools in big cities due to the violent protests and riots. I am afraid that I may not get a job in the future due to my political view, even though it should never matter. I am afraid to go into the ‘real world’ on my own. I wonder what I would do differently if I were in power.  I wonder how one day I can put an end to these fears. I sit and watch the news, which is nearly always negative, and I don’t understand why it has come to this. I don’t understand why people of color are still being treated unfairly than white people. I don’t understand why women continue to be objectified and harassed. I don’t understand why people of the LGBTQ+ community are attacked and restricted to be who they are. I don’t understand how some people believe that the coronavirus isn’t a big deal. It’s 2021, people. During a year where mental health has reached an all-time low, we still continue to turn on each other, rather than metaphorically, lift each other up. I may be too young, too inexperienced to really understand what happens in the world around me, but it’s never too early to start thinking about what I can do to help the situation. 

Changing the World

Gen-Z consists of all people born between the years 1997 to 2012. Even at most, some of the Gen-Z are only 24 years old, we’ve lived through almost as much as someone three times our age. The attacks on September 11th, a revolution of new technology, access to social media, the first President of color, the first female Vice President of color, a worldwide deadly pandemic, and indescribable attacks by our own people on our Capitol. 

If you look back to other historical moments in our history, such as the Great Depression, the Spanish Flu, and all the World Wars, you could see the toll it took on our country. But we also see how we came back from those hardships, and reunited ourselves to become stronger. I believe that patience is the key to success with what we are living through at this time. 

So even though I am afraid of what the future may hold, I know that Gen-Z will truly change the world. We’ve seen right from wrong and when we are finally in power to have a say and express our opinions, we will make a huge difference in this world. We’ve seen it all, lived through it all, and one day we will get to express it all. The questions that fill my mind every day will eventually be answered by men and women just like me, who grew up during these historic moments in our country.

I may have some fears, but I also have hope.