Coming+of+Age(Keahi)

 When are you a Man?  Throughout life boys and girls experience different stages in life changing them from childhood to adulthood. But when are you considered an adult or a man? I feel there are four stages that we go through growing up in order to reach adult hood. From baby, to childhood, the hard teenage years, and then finally reach adulthood is a long and pain full process. There are many things that graduate us from class to class until we are in life seen as men. Completing a stage is like completing a grade in school, you can’t be considered a man until you go through every stage in life. The first experience I faced, was at the age of two or three when I realized I was a boy not girl, I learned that I no longer had to sit down to use the toilet, but could stand up to go number one or just run to the bushes. In excitement I would drop my pants anywhere, as if you dropped your books walking to a class and headed straight to the bushes. With both butt checks showing, I felt I had accomplished so much with a great big grin on my face. Learning I no longer had to sit down to go number one, was one of the biggest things that separated boys from girls for me. At the time, I had considered myself as a young boy who would grow into adult hood and become a man one day. Once realizing I was a boy, the next stage in life was childhood. Knowing I never had to sit down again in my life to go number one ment too much to me. As life went on, I hit a roadblock finding out I was dyslexic and dysgraphic which would bring my biggest challenge in life. At these young ages it was extremely hard for me to understand and handle my learning disability, so my mom would stay up with me late at night reading assignments to me and helping me through homework. Night after night struggling to grasp information my mom would sit by my side until I completed all my assignments and even some nights do some of my homework because I was struggling so much. In my early childhood years I would have never made it without my mom. Entering my teenage years, I began to become more independent and handle my dyslexia and dysgraphic better. Not relying on my mother’s help so much anymore unless I was writing a paper I would ask her to read over to make suggestions for grammar and other things. It’s been a hard and many times frustrating, but by learning differently it has pushed me to become a stronger person who is not afraid to ask for help and I have become more accountable to myself. Growing up with dyslexia and dysgraphia is a challenge that has help sculpt me into the man I am today because this has been the biggest challenge I’ve faced in life. I’ve realized that this adversity has made me a stronger person and taught me a lot about my self and shows me that hard work truly pays off. Last quarter I was so stoked when I made the honor roll. For the first time since beginning ‘Iolani, I knew that I was on the right track to independence and adulthood. In my late teenage years, and approaching the young adult stages. I begin to realize I still have a lot to learn and do on my own before I can consider myself a man or and adult. Once I have accomplished these things from being independence and being able to raise a family and all the responsibilities that come with that I will then be considered a man. But through life no matter how much we can do on are own we will always relay on others for support and help in life. As I consider myself somewhat a boy and somewhat a man, I would just consider my self a young adult. The reason is because in society, once you turn 18, you are considered and adult. But my definition of an adult is someone who is in depended and can fend for him self and his family. So as I sit here think I have a long way to go before I can graduate to adult hood and be considered and adult but for now im just a young man or just about to graduate from teenage years and start a new beginning in a new chapter of my life.