AGE NINETEEN-20. THIS IS FOR YOU.

Been a while I finished writing something meaningful. I mean I never finish half of my write ups unless there's a deadline.

Oh. You actually clicked on the link. That's nice. I mean I used to think most of the time you wouldn't wanna read stuff online but thanks for showing interest in these few words. But this is more of an address to people born in 2004 or age nineteen - yes that age when you finally cross into permanent adulthood. So if you're in that class of people, you'll need this.

The funny thing is, legally we're all adults at the age of eighteen. But if you look closer, its like they're giving us two final years to prepare before the real deal. Turning twenty. I mean that's how I see it. Growth isn't just about permanent increase in the size of the body and an irreversible change in its properties, its a signal of a new beginning and what's to come ahead.

My name is Abraham Joseph, well everyone calls me AJ and I guess that makes more sense because honestly Abraham probably achieved a lot more than I did at this age. We all have our personal identity but one thing the average teenager struggles with is a fixed social identity. A social is something sort of what your friends and social person think about you. Do they you're introverted, extroverted or an ambivert? Do they think you're cool? Fun to be with? Attention seeking? Do they think you're interesting or boring? Peer pressure is a huge decider of social identity and between ages 15-19, trust me there's a lot of huge pressure.

But have you found your identity yet? Maybe you have or haven't. The answer is to do what makes you happy, its your life. The thing about initial youth (15-19) is that we'll make a lot mistakes but only smart kids learn from them. You might keep making the same mistake until you think you're the problem, you're not. People are just different and stupid. So if you haven't found an identity yet it'll come, but please know who you are before turning twenty and trust your identity. All my life i've been around older people so trust me when I say identity crises is real but its easy to solve it.

Something else that you need to know as someone on the verge of Consequential adulthood is that you're now a responsible grown person and nobody's going to take a blame for some shit you did. You're a grown up now so you can't hide behind childhood to make life ruining mistakes and expect pardon just like that. Whatever you do will always come back to haunt you.

I found out something else. The more you grow, the more you need to cling on to God. You might not realize how much you need God when you're messing around as a kid but the more you grow, the more battles you'll realize you're facing and the further you need the Lord.

Truth is, most people never wanna turn twenty. But we all will God willing. Remember when we used to sing that we were the Leaders of tomorrow...tomorrow is here.

You might complain things are harder now, but your dad or mom won't tell you things were any easier back in their days and your children sure won't come to meet the same thing. You got this far with your parents, it's time to become your own person and let your parents become the people assisting you.

Twenty years on earth. That's a huge achievement, you'll never be this age again in your life, whatever you had planned, do it. There's still time, dont get pressured by anyone else, we all have our different life clocks and we all have our destinations. One thing I know is that people born this year are destined to be great. I mean check out my friends.

Whatever you faced this year and last is preparing you for the future because there's more to come but then you won't react the way you're reacting now because then you'll be stronger. From being broke to depressed to heartbreak and failure and disappointment, its all normal. You didn't go through it alone. I know you'd wanna stay this age forever but that's not happening dude, accept the changes.

Lock your memories in, they'll be valuable. Save your nostalgia in songs and movies and anything else. Take pictures, make videos, make more friends your age and good luck. Remember when you JS1? Compare your self now, did you want to be this way? If no, then get up and work on it. 

Pick an idol. Pick two or three if you want. Do what you wanna do like them and stick to it. You're good looking, confident, smart and successful.

You'll be fine. You're not alone. We're in this together. The class of 04 is a special class and I am proud to be among it.

I'm celebrating you today. We'll celebrate you tomorrow, everyone else will celebrate you as well. Keep fighting champ, fight with God and fight with us. The world has a lot of challenges, brace up because we're just getting started.