Saying goodbye to my teen era

When I turned 16, Australia was on fire and I thought, “This is the worst thing I’ll see in my lifetime”.

Boy, was I wrong.

I was just entering Year 10 and getting ready to finally take school seriously.

Then the pandemic started, and I was in and out of isolation for two years, along with the rest of the world.

There were good parts, for sure, but mainly, I was not having fun.

I was bored and lonely — and my screen time went way up.

I also became really apathetic towards my studies.

Apologies to my teachers, but I 100 per cent cheated on my assessments. I think we all did.

When I finally came through the other side and I could see my friends again, I was just about to start Year 12 and I thought, “Great, everything will be good this year”.

Again, boy, was I wrong.

For a while, I was actually right, in that things became normal-ish again, and I spent most of Year 12 actually in school.

But that was until my last week or so of school.

For anyone who has not twigged yet, my last week of school and the beginning of my exams was in October 2022, during the floods.

I spent my last week of school online. Well, some of it.

My power went out for a couple of days and I couldn’t get to my closest library, Mooroopna, so I drove to Kyabram Library.

I didn’t really do anything, though.

It was really just an excuse to get out of the house.

They were supposed to be the best years of my life, according to every adult, but they weren’t.

In fact, it feels like just when I was entering my late teens, life was put on pause.

Now I’m 20 years old.

I think the pandemic affected everyone.

For me, it affected my ability to think about my future.

Most people had the dream of a partner and a house, maybe a golden retriever running around.

I don’t really know how to do that, because since the age of 16, my future has been unknown, so now I just don’t think about it.

I don’t know where I’m going to be in five years. I thought I did, but that all came crashing down with the natural disasters and pandemic.

I thought I would have a house, but that dream has been crushed by the housing and rental crisis.

Having my own house just seems out of the question, and rent is far too pricey — and even if you could afford it, there’s nowhere to rent anyway.

I sit here at 20, looking back at my teens, because looking to the future is not something I know how to do.

So, goodbye to my teenage years and a tentative hello to my 20s.

Don’t let me down.

– Djembe Archibald is a cadet journalist at The News.