Be Real Teens

As teens, we often have profound insights into love and dating. This is especially true as we reflect on how experience and observation have changed our perceptions on relationships since we were kids.

• Amany Elmogahzy. “Love takes time which is something most people don’t understand. Love needs time to grow and develop.”

• Lara Tucci. “The very day that I met [the boy] he told me that he loved me. That very afternoon, he sat next to me on the bus and tried to hold my hand. I was scared; things were moving a little too fast for my seven year old self. I told him I’d hold his hand if he beat me at rock-paper-scissors. We played best 2 out of 3. When I won, he made a face, but he kept his side of the bargain. And that’s all it took. That’s what love was to us second graders. As simple as a game of rock-paper-scissors and certainly less important than my deluxe collection of Pokemon cards. But now, I’m sixteen and I have to take relationships a bit more seriously. I have to cope with emotions and hormones and awkwardness and giddiness and everything else that comes with love. A heartbreak is no longer a little boy pouting on the bus when his crush turns him down. It is a real, almost physical pain. Love’s not just a game anymore.”

• Kevin Hu. “I used to view love as ideal. Love was perfect in every way. You fell in love with a girl (or guy), have kids, the end. No fights, no divorces (I didn’t even know what that meant then!), just love. I know now how naive that was. After being exposed to the “real world” for years, I’ve discovered, to my dismay, that love is far from perfect. Despite all this, I try to be optimistic about relationships.”

• Chelsea Ward. “I guess you could say I’m a hopeless romantic but when I was younger I was a lot more extreme.”

• Baxter Burke. “The first ‘girlfriend’ I ever had was back in fifth grade and I really had no idea what to do around her except treat her like any other normal friend of mine.  I had no idea at all what a ”real” relationship was.  It was just “cool” I guess to say that I had a girlfriend.  It seemed as if I really didn’t care about her feelings or anything of that matter. Now it’s not a matter of just saying that you have a girlfriend, it’s that when you do have one, you care for them and you actually want them to feel comfortable around you.”

• Katy Smith. “When I was younger, to me love was always a fairy tale. I thought that everyone who loved each other would get married, have babies, and end up happily ever after. To me, relationships were filled with butterflies in the stomach and walking barefoot on the beach. Now, I think I have a more realistic view on it. The biggest realization I’ve had as I’ve grown up is that relationships are never picture perfect. However, I have not completely changed. I still think that love is magical…and no one should settle.”