Essay Sample About Adulthood

What it means to truly grow up is subjective. We all have our defining moments of becoming an adult, even if we want to hold onto our childhood. Often we find ourselves looking back at our memories fondly, unaware of the future. Isn’t this what growing up is? Looking back for the last time and letting go? We compare our growth and come to the realization that we have come so far. It takes many things to be considered “mature” or “an adult”. 

First, we must think of others and not just ourselves. Our actions have more impact that we may notice. This is the realization Lizabeth comes to in “Marigolds”. The author illustrates this by noting how miss Lottie felt and how that affected Lizabeth. Lizabeth felt guilty for her reckless actions and finally started to think of not just herself. Her childlike behavior starts coming to an end, and new beginnings arise with it like a marigold blooming from the ground. 

On the other hand, sometimes we have to break away and think of ourselves and what we want in order to grow up. We have to find balance within ourselves and the world around us. For example, in the text “Safety Of Numbers” the narrator does what makes them happy. She still thinks of their mother but ultimately decides she doesn’t want fear to control her life. She learns from her mothers mistakes and chooses to live her own life free from fear. 

I enjoy how “Adolescents and the loss of childhood” ties into “Safety Of Numbers”. The narrator rebels and wants to grow up. She wants to become her own person and see the world. Her mother just wants her daughter to be safe, and finds it hard to accept that her daughter wants to grow into someone else as she leaves childhood behind. The text speaks of parents and their loss of their child to adulthood. It’s painful, but necessary. 

Not only this, but also “Rebel with a cause” is comparable to “Marigolds”. The narrator is a teenager fresh from childhood. She isn’t sure what’s happening and isn’t aware she’s reaching adulthood. It’s understandable she is greeted with fear and anger in this stage of her life. “Rebel with a cause” talks about what stage she’s in. She is just growing up and starting to rebel by rejecting the things from her childhood she no longer enjoys. When Lizabeth notices that her past activities no longer bring her joy, she’s bored and most likely frustrated because she has nothing to replace them with. This brings us back to “Rebel with a cause” as it talks about this stage and it is demonstrated be Luzabeth’s reaction and narration of the events. 

As we reach our final stages of growing, we reside in the comfort of knowing that we’ve learned from past mistakes, and understand we have reached what we call “adulthood”. There will always be more to learn, and our journey is never over; we have the knowledge we do, and choose to bring it with us into this game of life. We can finally be ourselves, and live in our independence knowing that we’ve grown.