Lauren+and+Womanhood

At times I find myself feeling confident enough to consider myself a woman, but sometimes I still feel the need of time in order to mature into a woman. Deciding whether you’ve passed the border to womanhood, to me, is just a matter of fact of confidence and experience. There is never a clear cut border to any individual because there is no way of knowing where it is, until that moment or experience that hits you. Maturity may come with not only age, but experience. Life is a learning process with no limits, but there are guidelines and checkpoints called your conscience. My senior year has been filled with surprises, opportunities, and experiences that I will never forget. The year is only half over with a lot more to come. Some highlights for the year that count as experiences on my way to womanhood are getting my first job, keeping my grades on the Headmaster’s list, and helping to guide my sister. Getting a job helps me to gain experience working with a huge variety of people. Becoming a woman means you are able to deal with issues, problems, and be able to cooperate with others. As a woman, being able to handle and know yourself is key in order to achieve success. Having a job teaches you responsibility, time management, confidence, selflessness, and patience. Maintaining grades, especially during a time of peaking senioritis is a battle that will only be defeated on the day of graduation. Keeping grades up signifies defeating the evil procrastination and showcasing the ability to prioritize. The highlight that sticks out the most is helping to guide my sister. As the oldest child, even though I may seem to have more privileges, there can be a lot of pressure and expectations. As the first child my parents not only expect me to be a role model, but a type of counselor because I will be able to relate to my sister's experiences and emotions more than they would. I want to be a good sister in every way I can, but sometimes my sister hates me for that and takes it in the wrong way. Sometimes I relate not being able to handle taking care of my sister and not being able to handle myself. Becoming a woman doesn't necessarily mean being able to handle everyone else's problems but just your own. In my definition, womanhood is about making correct decisions depending on the situation. We make decisions everyday in preparation for that step-up to womanhood. There is no clear line or particular decision that marks us as moving on to womanhood but just a matter of becoming more confident. Independence is a big factor in reaching womanhood because of its many aspects. We think of independence of meaning strictly of solitude, being able to function on your own, and relying on yourself. Independence is also important in relationships. Even though we think of relationships such as marriage as something involving teamwork and cooperation, independence is essential. In womanhood, diversity is also key because you can’t have only one way of thinking. A woman has to be capable of seeing things from different aspects to create better understandings. Being able to work with others and by yourself is a difficult skill to develop. In a relationship being independent is important because you need to rely on your partner but need to be able to function as individuals. Being able to visualize and understand is important in becoming a woman with things such as starting a family. With college approaching quickly I feel that womanhood will also reach me faster than I anticipate. College will help me to become more independent because I will have more time and be thrown into classes where I’m not likely to know many people. Through college I will also gain a better sense of the importance of being stable financially. Learning to manage money will also be crucial as I become a woman.

Coming of Age Essay