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I love seeing love, it's such a beautiful thing. I love seeing people find their person and find themselves in the process. 

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Adolescent sexuality is the discovery, growth, and expression of sexual feelings and actions throughout the adolescent years. This time is marked by profound physical, emotional, and cognitive changes as teenagers manage their developing sexual identities and wants. Adolescents may participate in a range of sexual activities, including romantic partnerships, dating, and sexual experimentation. It's also a period when kids could start to learn about reproductive health, contraception, and the notion of consent. However, teenage sexuality can bring difficulties such as managing peer pressure, social standards, and dealing with sexual health and safety concerns. Open communication, thorough sex education, and access to supporting resources are vital for promoting healthy sexual development and informed decision-making during adolescence. I've always known my sexual orientation and I took my time exploring that during adolescence. I didn't rush into everything like my peers did, I did my own thing, and that worked for me when it came to dating and navigating intimate settings.

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This is me walking after completing my associate's degree. This is one achievement that I was really happy about because I made it through a lot of obstacles to get to that point. 

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Adolescent achievement is spread across a large spectrum of accomplishments that an adolescent achieves. These achievements include academic, physical, occupational, social, and emotional realms. This can be thriving in school, forming meaningful connections, building resilience, participating in physical activities, and following personal interests. Adolescent successes have an important role in defining people's identities and feelings of self-worth, developing abilities such as resilience and leadership, and setting the framework for future success and joy. I struggled to celebrate my achievements because I always felt like the things I achieved were supposed to be done. It wasn't a sense of "yay I did it" but more of "I checked that off my list". I wasn't in competition with myself or anyone else I just knew I would find a way to get it done. As I grew older, I began to acknowledge my accomplishments and feel proud of myself whenever I achieved the goals I had set. It's a great feeling to celebrate one's own achievements and be happy for oneself.

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Love and Basketball is one of my favorite romance movies. It also shows how an intimate relationship develops as two people grow together. People always ask if I want a relationship like there's because I play basketball. 

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Through development adolescent's close relationships began to change in many ways but in simple terms, they become more intimate. The text says that intimacy needs to be disconnected from sexual or physical connotations. During adolescence, intimate relationships are emotional attachments between caring individuals who share private topics and common interests. An intimate relationship goes beyond a sexual one. I wasn't one who dated like everyone else, I had too much on my plate and I really couldn't see myself adding someone to that mix. My relationships become more intimate during my senior year of high school. I had intimate relationships with my friend group. We were super close and we did everything together. As far as a serious intimate relationship with a partner that didn't come into college when I learned how to juggle life, school, sports, and myself as a person.

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The song is Grown from Grown-ish which is a show that is about college students going and experiencing life on their own and the lyrics explain a lot of what I feel as I do the same thing. 

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The text states that "Becoming an autonomous person - a self-governing person- is one of the fundamental developmental tasks of adolescence". Autonomy in adolescence is not solely about acting independent, it is feeling independent and doing for oneself. Autonomy is developed way before the age of puberty and can be seen as early as toddler years. I didn't feel a sense of self-governance until I got into college. It was the first time I was out in the world by myself. I was living in a different state, with new people, and new surroundings and I was doing it all by myself. Although my parents were always just a phone call away, they weren't physically present to help me through everything. The experience was challenging but it helped me grow. As I near the end of my college journey, I am proud to see the remarkable progress I have made in developing my autonomy. An autonomous person feels like they are living authentically within themselves and that is what I am striving for. Becoming completely independent is a bit scary but it's just another chapter in the book of life.

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Young people's self-perceptions evolve with time.
During adolescence, individuals begin to restructure their sense of self and recognize the importance of these changes. Self-identity describes how we define ourselves. Self-identity is the foundation of our self-esteem. Adolescents' self-perceptions shift in reaction to peers, family, and school, among other social settings. Our self-identities influence our sense of belonging. I can honestly say I am still working on it as I am approaching graduation and entering a new chapter in my life. I've always known myself as a student-athlete and now that it is coming to an end, life feels like it's shifting. I'm not worried about what is in store in this next chapter but the change is scary. Even having to reflect on it right now is tough because I don't know what to say. It is a work in progress and that is ok. I am still working on my religious identity, self-identity, social identity and I'm in no rush because self-discovery takes time. I would put myself in a moratorium identity status because I don't have it all figured out but I am exploring and trying to understand it all.

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An AAU basketball tournament I attended during the summer. 

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Adolescence is a time when adolescents get a sense of maturity as they start to balance work, school, and life. These experiences help shape social skills, time management, and responsibility. As an adolescent, there are jobs that you can have like babysitting, retail, food, and others. I did not work in high school because I simply didn't have time to. I devoted all of my leisure time to sports and training. I was a multi-sport athlete and I played sports year around. I would go from playing volleyball in the fall to basketball in the winter, soccer in the spring, and then AAU basketball in the summer. If I wasn't playing a sport I was spending time with my family. I did however get work experience through volunteering. I was part of outside organizations, the National Honors Society and my school made us do an internship as our senior project. I was able to work at Beaumont Hospital (a hospital in Michigan), as a volunteer, not an intern due to my age and legal reasons but I still got to work. While working there I was able to gain experience in the workforce and it helped me figure out what I wanted to do going into college. Even though I was not able to work I am grateful for sports and what they have done for me. Sports put me through college, helped me build relationships, gave me a sense of leadership and so much more.

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Peer Groups help adolescent find their people. Whether that is people of the same age, background, interest, social class, or anything that would draw people together. They help individuals build social skills, identity, and relationships. Peer groups start to change as you age/grow and meet new people. I never really liked to be part of big groups of people. I played sports so I was well known but for the most part, I stayed to myself and talked to my friend group. I stayed around high-achieving people who also kept to themselves. This post is very closely related to my school post because my school experience affected my peer group experience. Because I moved schools a lot I never got to keep the same friends and because of this I never kept up with them. I would leave a school and make a new group of friends and the cycle continued until I got to high school. After high school, the group of friends (the ones posted in the school post) grew apart because everyone started to do their own thing. I still have really close/best friends that I've known over the years and I'm happy that they are still around.

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Me and my high school friends after graduation 

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School, no matter the grade has an impact on the development and growth of an adolescent. Things like class/school size, curriculum, and funding all play a part in how an adolescent will respond and stay engaged. Depending on their track, peer group, or extracurricular activities will determine their experience. I had a unique experience myself. During the years of K-8th, I went to a new school every two years. High school was the first time I got to settle in, make friends, and stay the duration of the intended time. Moving around like that didn't bother me much. I did go to public schools that didn't have the best funding but I still got good grades, stayed on the honor, kept good friends, played sports, and stayed out of trouble. I wish I could go back because I enjoyed my time in K-12th grade. High school was a bit different. I went to school in the "Henry Ford Museum" and while that may seem crazy to others I thought it was great. We had your normal curriculum with electives like foreign languages, music composition, different art classes, computer coding and so much more. We also had to do an internship and finish a senior project to graduate. It was a small school but it was enough for me.

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My little family. There's me, my parents and my older sister. 

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An adolescent's family is a big part of their development. The way an adolescent is raised plays a role in how they go about day-to-day things, how they process certain emotions or even respond to specific situations. There are four parenting styles, which are authoritarian, authoritative, indulgent, and neglectful. I was fortunate to grow up in a two-parent household with a mix of authoritarian and authoritative parents. My parents are really old school so they weren't strict but we did have rules and expectations and we couldn't be disobedient in any way. They were also very attentive, and loving and just wanted the best for my sister and me. I think my parents did pretty great with us. My mom is the first person that pops into my head when anything happens in my life, she is quite literally my best friend. She allows me to grow while still being supportive, she has been there every step of the way, and she's teaching me how to be an amazing woman. I'm grateful for the parents I was blessed with.

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The social transition of an adolescent is the change from one period of your life to the next. It's when you and others realize you are no longer a child. It can displayed through an event, a birthday or simply moving up a grade in school. For me, I didn't feel like a transition until I made my first big girl purchase by myself. I saved up and fully purchased my first car. I felt like a full adult when I walked into the bank to take the money out, it was such a surreal moment especially because I went through the whole process by myself.

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Masterpiece (Mona Lisa). I don't have a particular part for you guys to listen to but it's a beautiful song if you want to give it a listen!

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This transition is the physical part of adolescence. Body parts start growing, things start showing that have never been there, and your body becomes this new place. Puberty was a scary thing for me. I actually hid it for a long time until I was ready to tell my mom as if I had done something wrong. I struggled with my appearance, I lacked confidence and I didn't know where I fit in with everybody else. I never compared my body or my changes to anyone else. All my problems were internal but how do you deal with them when your internal and external are changing before your eyes? It was a lot.

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My great aunt was my babysitter until I was able to go to school and during the summer time while my parents were at work. 

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During this transition it is said that adolescents begin to become more mature, they develop a sense of self, their thinking becomes more complex and so much more. I was brought up around older women and they carried themselves in a very high manner. While being around them I started imitating their mannerisms and the way they did things. In my head, I had always been this mature little old lady. As I got older that never changed even during adolescence. Not only did I continue to behave this way but I started to understand what it meant to be this "little lady". The reasons why those older women did what they did and said what they said started to make sense as I grew in my adolescence because not only was I growing but my cognitive abilities were too.