Do you feel your teenage life was different from others?

I was bookish and didn't exactly have a social schedule to rival Paris Hilton's, but that isn't really that unusual. That just meant I ended up hanging out in the school library with all the other bookish, introverted kids, and that was fine by me. Fortunately, the schools I went to had a reasonably academic culture. It wasn't exactly cool to be interested in your studies, but it wouldn't render you a social outcast either.

I think I had all the usual traumas, though. I actually insisted on going to the doctor for treatment for my acne, which I feel rather embarrassed about in retrospect. I was also a bit obsessed with my weight, which is funny now. I only wish I was still that slim.

Eh, being 16, I'm in the later stages of teenagehood. Well, I echo that of many previous posters, no sex, no dates, no drugs, no drinks, little social life, a few 'friends'. But I have a good family, and my current school is a pretty good school.

Am I different? Only my cultural interests; I'm one of the few people in my class that's into anime, pop-punk, and a general knowledge of general things, and the fact that I'm a little strange compared to other guys. ~shrug~

Meh. Growing up in a relatively isolated village with no real public transport plus a preference for nerdy pursuits meant my teenage years were perhaps quieter than most, but I doubt my experience was at all unique.

Different? No, I don't think I was different. I guess I had my fixation on bands, but that hardly set me apart. Most people have some kind of narrow interest and you're fine so long as it's not the only thing you like.

No see...you're behind the times. These days they throw it away on internet use and junk food.

@OP: My early childhood was pretty strange. My teenage years were more or less normal (except the LAR Ping and occult practices, I'm pretty sure those were a little out there) for a kid of The '90s. About the only thing I regret from those years was getting married.

I lived a fortunate, but misfortunate teenage life.

I probably should have met more misfortune which would have forced me to think in more versatile, smart ways. Instead, I lived as a person who shamelessly just existed in the 1%.

Well, maybe not the truly super rich, but someone with too many privileges.

I should have had to fight and grasp for success.

But I didn't.

I regret that.

Yes, I'm a special snowflake and nobody understands me.

In all seriousness, if one could come up with some kind of average teenage experience, then nobody would fit it exactly. Everyone's teenage years are going to be different from others to some extent, because that's how people work.

I'm a bit of a geek and I don't exactly have the most action-packed social life, but I have plenty of friends, I go out reasonably often, I worry sometimes about my schoolwork and getting into uni and whatever without getting overly stressed about it. I think I'm perfectly normal. I think most people would fall under 'normal', in fact - that being the word's definition - and a lot of them just convince themselves otherwise because they like to think they're incredibly special and original and totally different from all the people around them.

It's interesting, incidentally, that all of the examples given in the original post weren't so much examples of being different as examples of the traits of the stereotypical average teenager.

edited 3rd Dec '11 12:53:20 AM by cityofmist

I went out of my way to not fit in.

So I'd say yes.

Not really different. I mean according to American standards probably, but by West Indian standards it's pretty normal. I mean, I don't date, no drugs and very little alcohol, I do go to parties occasionally, some friends. Don't really do sleepovers though. The biggest difference is probably the lack of dating. I mean, Americans start dating in like elementary school. I think the longest I had a boyfriend was an hour in 3rd grade. West Indians don't really start dating until after high school. And I mean they go to parties, but not huge rave type ones.

-Nevermind, off topic-

edited 4th Dec '11 1:09:36 PM by Coopor

I never drank until a few months ago (after I entered college). I had plenty of friends in high school (being on three sports helped with that) and hung out with them a lot, but never "partied" (drank/smoked). I regret not asking anyone to Prom (having a date made Homecoming a blast), but going stag was fine. Never dated.

The bigger difference is between me and my other friends in college. I haven't really made new friends, the times I've partied have been with high school buddies. Hoping to rush come spring, as that's how most of my friends have made more friends so far in college.

Is my teenage life different from others?

Um... I wouldn't say so. Not substantially, at least.

I certainly feel my teenage life was different from others and I alternate between wishing it was less different and MORE different.

I skipped the third grade and from that point on, pretty much everyone else ostracized and bullied me all the way to high school. By that point I was scarred enough that I only made a single close friend that I drifted away from (though I got along great with my classmates). What kept me going those years was the flawed notion that since I knew no one else who skipped a grade I was a genius and thus all this would be worth it. Then I got to college and found out I certainly was NOT a genius, meaning I have nothing now.

Every so often I read these stories about these kids starting their own companies and having had an impact even before they were 18, whereas I was focused on school and piano lessons which lead nowhere. Now I'm about to graduate with a degree I found out too late I hated without any job or extracurricular experience whatsoever. I feel like I isolated myself in a bubble all my life and my future is bleak.

I am pretty sure my teenagerhood was vary different from my sheeple peers. (I said sheeple ironically, because only sheeple would use the term sheeple non-ironically) Firstly, people did not like hanging out with me because they were intimidated by my intellect (and not at all due to my immense mass and pungent smell which don't exist). Also, none of the "Kool Kids" could appreciate the art of Kodomo No Jikan and Boku No Pico, because they were all too busy on Facebook (Which I never participated in btw). Also, I was a Badass Shrinking Violet with a Heart Of Gold who could also spout off Snarky comments with the best of them, whereas they all played "sports" or did "drama" or shagged "girls" or something equally inane. This isn't even mentioning their lack of style (No Fedora? No Longcoat? No Katana? Fucking plebeians!) or their inability to understand the refined wit of my MST 3 K-esque comments during movies or their lack of respect for good video-games like my yaoi dating sims and my FINARU FANTAJI (That is Nippongo for Final Fantasy).

In short; I was very different from my stupid and culturally devoid "peers" (Though I hate to use that term for such lowly people) and as such I became a martyr for my superiority.

Woah, man, it is a bit mean of you to dismiss my teenage life as an outcast who appreciates the art of GURPS as being a strawman. I would like a formal apology that you dismissed the hardest time in my life so easily.

edited 11th Dec '11 5:34:24 AM by YeahBro

Strawman much?

Damnit, I wanted to do that.

You have to go straight up to those people and Hannibal Lecture them with no mercy. Hit that Jerk Jock with a "Reason You Suck" Speech that proves how Brilliant, but Lazy you are and how they're a Future Loser who will never amount to anything.

edited 11th Dec '11 8:23:31 AM by TheGloomer

This.

Also don't forget to use a Precision F-Strike for emphasize. And make as many anime references as possible.

edited 11th Dec '11 8:39:33 AM by kay4today

While you're at it, you may want to break some pencils (you could get your friend to break the ones that are too hard).

There's sooooo much stuff that I could probably write for pages and pages. Altohugh i'd rather not talk about all of it here.

Well, for one thing, a stunningly low number of people I'd actually consider myself friends with.

It's funny, because there's what, 30 unique posters here who talked about how "different" they are/were, and they all said exactly the same thing?

Self-selection bias of the site does that.

edited 11th Dec '11 9:27:57 AM by MRDA1981

Well, yes, but still. Once you're among similar people, I don't see the point in talking about how different you were/are from everyone else. I mean, if you weren't you probably wouldn't be here.

I'm only saying.

Why is it "pointless" to talk about how different you are from others like that, just because most people here are similar in that regard?

@Yeah Bro, Gloomer,