Reid 1

Campbell Reid

Mr. Taylor

Honors English II

21 March 2019

Coming of Age Essay

My coming-of-age experience, which helped to sculpt me into who I am today, does not

start with me; it starts with my older brother, Graham. When my brother became a senior here at

Heritage High School, he started to look at, become interested in, and enroll in colleges to attend

for the coming school year. He is going to be attending NCSU the following school year and is

so excited to start a whole new chapter in his life. Watching him wrestle with such big decisions

was when I began my new chapter in life and learned new behaviors along the way. This

experience molded me to become a better person and learn responsibility, maturity, and trust

from myself, and others.

Before this experience, I was immature, irresponsible, naive or trustworthy at all. I

remember I would go to relatives houses and play with the kids, run around the house, and

generally be annoying and immature. My life was stress-free, which is a teen’s dream nowadays,

but it was also a full-on mess and needed to be changed. Before I had this experience of

watching my brother transform, I was vulnerable to the dangers of people around me, and I did

not have a care in the world about what I did, or who I hung out with. My behavior towards

others was not appropriate or mature, and I needed to grow up and take responsibility for all the

choices I made.
 Reid 2

Then my coming-of-age experience came to life, shifting my mind and actions in a whole

new direction. My brother going to college was-is a big deal to me, and still is now. My mind

had somewhat adjusted to the fact that he is not going to be living with us much longer, so I

needed to start taking responsibility. I felt the need to help my parents and family with their

issues first instead of mine, and I felt more relaxed than I ever was. I started to pull away from

toxic things in my life that were stressful and chaotic. I started hanging out with trustworthy and

caring friends and putting myself in happy, positive environments. Of course, I still had my ups

and downs, but I always know how to be uplifting to myself and others.

After this coming-of-age experience, I feel as if I have grown as a person and a friend,

because I am more responsible, trustworthy, filtered, aware, comfortable, and caring for

everyone and every situation around me. I started to ask people how they were doing instead of

telling them about my day and what I was doing. I am extremely thankful for my brother for

giving me the opportunity to become mature and responsible in my life, so I can follow his

footsteps.

In the future, I will be more prepared for life in my behavior, personality, and actions I

choose to improve in. Because of this experience, I have given myself the opportunity to reach

out of my comfort zone and be myself. My new mindset will allow me to achieve many things,

so I can begin new chapters in my life. I will not stop striving to be a better sister and friend. I

am extremely grateful that my brother opened doors for me to realize, capture, and integrate

what I can and will be in the future.