Passing Points

As you get older, there are “passing points” that you have to accomplish in order transition into adulthood. However, all of these points don’t happen at once. They start when you are young and start doing simple chores around the house like sweeping the floor and washing the dishes. Once you can complete those tasks with ease, you are given more work to do and the cycle continues. Eventually, when you are an older child, more decision making and conversational skills are added into the mix. As I begin to transition into adulthood, I realize where some of my passing points were on my road to being considered an adult. The first point I remember is when I was finally allowed to drive the truck around our land by myself.

When I was eight or nine, I learned how to drive. Of course, this was just in an empty field, never surpassing ten miles per hour. Dad would take me out to practice every once and awhile, but at this point I never dreamed of driving by myself. When I was eleven, I was allowed to drive the truck to pick up barrels and move rocks. However, I was never supposed to drive the truck without asking and one of my parents always had to be home. It was at this point that I wanted more freedom with driving. Although, that dream was slightly set back by the fact that I sideswiped an end post and left a gaping hole in the side of the truck, which is still there to this very day. It seemed like an eternity at the time, but somewhere in the year before I turned 13, I was finally trusted to drive the truck by myself. I was able to start hauling bales, moving rocks, and fencing during the hours my mom and dad were at work. With my first true passing point complete, I was able to continue to move up the ladder. My next stop was being trusted with the animals at all times. This change was more subtle than my abilities to drive. I noticed that mom started asking me more questions about what to do with the animals, rather than just do it by herself or tell me what to do. As I got a little bit older, I realized that I was now in charge of the care of the animals, from feeding, to riding, to medical care. No longer was I running to the kitchen door to figure out how much to feed, holding the horse while mom took care of the injuries, or waiting for someone to be home so I could ride. While the shift was subtle overall, there was …show more content…
I am taking hard classes, including AP Calculus and English 101 and 102. Next year, I will be a senior. That means I will have college applications, scholarship applications, various FFA applications, and many other activities ending in the word application. After that, I will go to college. As more of these events pass by, some of my family remembers that I am growing up, and some of them don’t. There is the ever-present question, “What are you planning on doing after high school?” from some, while others say “Oh, you have a snapchat! That’s so cool!” I know that I will always be a kid in some eyes, but as long as it is recognized that I’m not actually a kid for very much longer, I am happy with that