I'm a teenager and nobody understands me. And I don't like Halloween.

Adolescence is awful. It really is. And adults don't understand. They really don't.

Was that not the most stereotypical thing you've ever read? Well it's a stereotype because it's true. Teenagers today have it SO much harder then teenagers ten years ago and exponentially harder than our parents! Getting into college is more difficult then it ever was and with the added social pressures and need to succeed in absolutely everything, how is anyone supposed to handle it?

The night before last I was crying, I was nauseous, and I kept getting headaches because I was so stressed out. Between history, English, and math I had so much homework there was no way I could finish. I was up until 1:00 AM doing history and then I woke up at 5:30 to do my English. I ended up coming home from school at lunch crying because I hadn't done my math homework and I was too scared to go to class. School shouldn't be like this! Teachers have no right to pile on so much work outside of class that students can't even have the weekend to enjoy themselves.

And parents are just as bad. One of my best friends just got grounded for grades that aren't up to par, and it would not be the first time. Even professional psychologists say that punishment does not work. Incentives work.
EXAMPLE:
Wrong: If you get bad grades, you will be grounded.
Right: If you get good grades, I will take you out to dinner.
I'm not saying people should get bribed into working hard, but people should be working hard because they want something, not to avoid pain and punishment. And parents need to be there for their kids when things get hard.

I hate people. And I hate when people try to inflict their opinions on others.
EXAMPLE:
I dislike Halloween. I guess dressing up is fun, but I don't really like being scared and I don't like walking around in the dark asking strangers for candy. Even though I live in a suburb. ANYWAY, I am surrounded by people who love this holiday and want to celebrate with me. When I tell them I am reluctant to trick-or-treat, people get all insulted and treat me like I can't be a child-at-heart and that I'm stuck up and obnoxious. But I am a child-at-heart (even though I never really had a childhood, but that's a story for another day), I love Disneyland and princesses and blankets and everything like that. I just don't really like Halloween, and I didn't when I was little. And feeling stressed like this just makes everything worse, because every little issue becomes a big issue in my head, and then I decide that no one understands me and what I say isn't worth talking to my friends about, even they tell me their problems all the time. I'm just messed up.

Happy birthday to Pablo Picasso, Adam Pascal, and Katy Perry.

My friend's Facebook status was "Stressed is just dessert spelled backwards." I admire her optimism.