Five years old.

I stand

I run

I play

I laugh

Life is fun

Life is carefree

I don’t need to know yet

Ten years old.

I dream

I learn

I wonder

I grow

Life is still fun

Life is still carefree, yet

Worries have blossomed

In the shadows of my mind

Shoved in the back

Emerging into the light more every day

I still don’t need to know yet

Fifteen years old.

I get up

I go to school

I do homework

I sleep

Life is not quite as fun

Not quite as carefree

The worries take up space in the front of my mind

They are out of the shadows

I have to know

What job I want

What classes I take

What I study in college

I have to know my future

Now

That is not true

I do not have to know

I can consider it

Maybe this…

Maybe that…

I can try

I can experiment

But I do not have to know

Those worries can be forced back

Into the shadows

Until I can decide

We created Future Focused, a new Inspire(d) column written by pre-teens and teens, to help give the next generation an opportunity to share their voices. Partnering with Dana Hogan, the Extended Learning Program teacher at Decorah Middle School, we offered prompts around progress, growth, success, and overcoming difficulties. Students submitted some really great work, and four were chosen for this Inspire(d). You can read all the Future Focused pieces published so far at iloveinspired.com/category/future-focused. Here’s to Listening to the Next Generation! – Aryn