I am a teenager.
I am ignorant, illiterate and irresponsible.
I lie, cheat, steal and hate for no apparent reason.
I am rude, inconsiderate, and, to all appearances, completely lost.
I have never known failure, loss, or despair.
I don't know the value of a dollar.
I don't know anything.
I claim to know everything.
I am superficial, loud and obnoxious.
I have short hair, thus meaning I am a rebel or a dyke.
I have an alcoholic father and a mother who didn't want me, so there is something clearly wrong.
I am unstable and unsafe to be around.
I am viewed with disapproval as a person who drinks, smokes, and parties at every opportunity.
I am a teenager.
I am a stereotype.
I have been cast unfairly in the role of an imprudent person
who knows nothing, is inherently cruel, and always thinking of myself.
I am the bane of a society of whom many have never read Dickens, Bronte, Nietzsche or Rousseau.
I am dismissed by many of the generation who fear the day
when I become an adult, because then the world will surely crumble at my feet.
When people look at me, they evaluate through lenses tinted with disgust, mistrust and hate.
Some will never know that I am compassionate, humble and patriotic.
I am an athlete, musician, artist and student.
I am a daughter, sister, lover and friend.
I laugh and I cry.
I speak my opinions, but I know when to keep silent.
I love, dislike, and show indifference, but I never hate.
I will be the next Nobel Prize winner, for finding the cure to cancer.
I have lofty dreams and the ambition to make them reality.
I have the determination and self-discipline to see every goal surpassed.
I will go to college not to party and have fun,
but to pull myself one step closer to the destination I so greatly desire.
Through kind words, intelligent conversation and common courtesy,
I will change the misconception of youth.
One day, one person at a time, I will show those who judge me that they are wrong.
When I am an adult, there will be a new generation of reckless hateful youth.
When I look at them, I will see through the labels and see the promise of a future generation.
For now, I am simply and proudly myself.
Though I do not attend church, I am faithful, loving and honest.
Though my GPA is not a perfect 4.0, I am inquisitive, intelligent and sincere.
Though I hurt myself, I would never hurt anybody else.
Though, you'll never see any of this...
because
I am a teenager.
