Open Letter to Apathetic Teens, Kayla Davis [best book club books of all time txt] 📗

 Dear Apathetic Teens of Earth,     

I realize that some of you do not know the meaning of the word “apathetic.”  Allow me to explain. Apathy is a feeling of disinterest, lack of concern for... Oh. What was that? You don’t care what it means to be apathetic? I see. 

You do not like being lectured at.  That’s really too bad, because sometimes in life, lectures are necessary.  Take school, for instance.  Teachers give lectures all the time. Why?  To teach you information that they are required to teach you.  Why do you need to learn all this?  While chances are good that you won’t use algebra or chemistry after you graduate high school, (unless you plan on going to college, but can I get a show of hands of all of you who are aspiring to that?  Ahhh, just as I suspected.  Not nearly enough of you.) employers and colleges are looking for people who are good at LEARNING.  That is the point of high school.  It isn’t for actually learning all the things they teach you.  Yes, you should remember a lot of it because it will help you make pleasant conversation as an adult if you aren’t the ignorant fool in the room who thinks that Alaska is a country and that Canada is a continent.  But no.  Colleges and employers want to know when they hire or accept you that you will learn quickly what is being asked of you to learn.  

One thing many of you need to learn is you DO have the ability to go to college or trade school.  What is getting in your way?  Grades?  Money?  APATHY?  Let me debunk your concerns (or lack thereof)- A) If you are not yet finished with high school, you still have time to get your GPA up.  If you tried to get your grades up, (and being apathetic as you are, I assume you don’t try at this) it probably would not be too hard a task to accomplish.  B) You think college is too expensive.  To be honest, it is.  But that’s what scholarships and student loans are for.  “I can’t get a scholarship, my grades are too low,” you say.  I laugh at that.  There are scholarships out there for the most random things if you just look hard enough.  “I don’t want to have student loans for the rest of my life.  I want to just start a job after high school,” you say.  I face-palm at this.  True, there are many vastly successful people in this world who never attended college.  Great for them, I applaud them.  However, you will have more money in the end if you go to college, even with student loans, because college graduates, on average, get paid a heck of a lot more than people without a degree. Sure, it’s not just about money, but financial peace of mind goes a long way for future happiness, health, and marriage longevity. C) You don’t want to go to college because you don’t care.  Not caring, to me, actually does not exist.  You must care about something.  Everyone does.  So find that one thing that you do care about and pursue it.

That said, if the things you care most about are on the following list, we need to talk: weed, sex, partying, drugs, alcohol, rebellion, and swag.  While swag may help you be popular in your peer group now, and drugs may help you fit in while you’re in high school, swag only goes so far in a job interview when your saggy pants and lack of a clean shave lose you the job.  Drugs are illegal.  Under-aged drinking is illegal.  Sex can get you a baby or a disease.  Both are expensive, and you don’t have a job, remember?  And those illegal things I mentioned? You can be arrested and put in juvenile detention or prison for those.  Don’t think it won’t happen to you.  That is called personal fable, my friends, and is a dangerous part of being a teenager.  Teenagers are wired to think that dangerous things won’t ever happen to them.  Stuff like that only happens to other people.  YOU won’t get pregnant. YOU won’t die of a drug overdose.  YOU won’t crash your car while driving drunk. Right?  Newsflash: It could happen to you, although, maybe you don’t care about that either.

Whatever reason you have for not giving a flying fish about life in general, snap the heck out of it.  You could do so much more with your life.  Can’t change your mind, but I can talk, so talk I will. 

Best of Luck,

A 16-year-old with an opinion.

Text: Kayla Davis
Publication Date: 02-23-2014

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