> People aren't born dumb and get more intelligent as they get older -- the difference comes from how their life experience gives them a greater ability, and confidence, to express what they think. If you can start expressing your opinions now, you are less of a little kid because of it, and more of a mature thinker.

That makes sense. It makes far more sense than what I thought. And I must be on the right track, because I thought over what I wanted to say in my post, and I said it, and I'm not ashamed over it and hoping nobody noticed (as I've felt over some of my last posts). It feels *right*, and hopefully that things I post in the future will also feel right.

>Anyway, what's wrong with calling yourself a teenager? There's nothing wrong with being who you are.

I'm not denying what I am, I just hate the term 'teenager'. In my opinion, it's a term created by the media and advertising agencies, and they don't really exist. I'm an adolescent, which is a harsher, more exacting term used for a harsh but very necessary time in a person's life. Although...my opinion of the term 'teenager' is really more of a 'Personal-Annoyances-Bordering-On-Standard-Waving-Quest' thing than a 'I'm-Growing-Up-And-Just-Don't-Get-It" thing.

> Even if we have been adolescents, we haven't been *you*. For that reason, your perspective on every single topic we could possibly discuss will be different from everybody else's, and equally valid.

I know, but I needed somebody else to tell me that.

~Quartz