Being an Adolescent in 2016

Being an Adolescent in 2016  

   By: Paul

My name is Paul and today, in English class, we read the article titled Adolescence and the Teenage Crush, by Carl Pickhardt, Ph.D.  This topic made me ponder my first crush. My first crush wasn’t your average boy and girl romance. No way ! I’ve always known I was gay, but it wasn’t confirmed until I was in kindergarten. It was my teacher, Mrs. Benchly, who told me so. How did she know I was gay before I did? I have no clue. But the fact of the matter is, I was a homosexual. However, I have to admit, I might not have realized I was different if Mrs. Benchly hadn’t pointed it out. I mean I was five, so I just assumed boys were attracted to other boys. I went home and told my parents I was gay.

My parents didn’t say anything. They probably thought it was a phase I would overcome. But eventually, accepted me for who I was. In the article, the author writes, “parents need to respect an adolescent crush and not dismiss or put it down” (Pickhardt 1).  This is exactly what my parents did. Fast forward to high school, my first crush was Kyle. Oh lord, that boy was gorgeous! I had what you call a “ Romantic Crush.” According to the article, “Romantic crushes are formed by finding someone whom they find powerfully attractive, who they feel excited around, and with whom they want to spend a lot of time”  (Pickhardt 1). But I thought it was lame to crush on a straight boy. I didn’t know if he was straight or not, so I decided to ask him. It was third period and I saw him searching through his book bag. I went up to him, and blurted out, “ Are you gay? because I’m really into you”. He just walked away. From that day forward, the crush I had on Kyle quickly faded away. That’s when I learned that teenage crushes don’t last long. They are temporary.