This stuff really happened
Written by and for tweens and teens
⬅️ back to the Puberty Portal
As many high schoolers and ex-high schoolers know, junior and senior year are tough. AP classes, college applications, and standardized test prep were difficult to balance, and as an overachiever, I wanted to do all of it and more. My hard work ethic drove me to prioritize academics over all else, which meant my social…
When I was in middle and high school, I did not prioritize sleep. I was tired all day and due to my afterschool schedule, I could not start my homework until nighttime. By the time I was a senior in high school, I was getting 6 hours of sleep per night if I was lucky…
Ah, puberty. You know it, and you love it (or maybe you don’t – you wouldn’t be alone). Growing up is messy, awkward, and sometimes embarrassing. Read some totally funny and totally true stories about puberty and growing up that just might make you realize how universal this experience really is. Catie, 19The first time I…
Hey there! Do you want to play your sport at the collegiate level? This is the advice I wish someone had told me about playing in college. I was recruited and am currently a Division 1 athlete at an Ivy League school, so this advice stems from personal experience. Recruitment can be a brutal and often political…
Breakups hit everyone differently. And it’s the unfortunate truth that all relationships are different. There are always underlying contexts or reasons for a break up that perhaps neither you nor I – or your parents, your best friend, whomever your personal confidant – will understand. So, despite my experience or my best advice, it may…
When I am going through a difficult period in my life or just having a bad day, I often struggle to find outlets for my feelings. Before the pandemic lockdown, I did not understand how internal pain was exponentially more excruciating than most physical pain. Over quarantine, I found life extremely pointless and meaningless without…
One of the most fascinating revolutions of the last two years has been TikTok’s rapid rise to the forefront of American teen culture. While there are influencers that rose to prominence on the app such as Addison Rae or the D’amelio sisters, the aspect of TikTok that fascinates me most is the way people make…
In middle school, one of my biggest challenges was expressing my emotions. Due to constant bullying and social isolation, I became stoic around others and would not let anyone see the influence of their hurtful comments like “you have no friends,” “you are fat,” or “you are ugly.” As a result, I came home from…
Walking into a space and feeling like you are an outsider is difficult in any setting. It is especially difficult when you walk into a gymnasium filled with boys in their underwear waiting to be weighed in before a wrestling match and when you look around, you see nobody who looks like you: a 5’2…
There are challenges that come with competing as a female in the male dominated sport that is wrestling — being the only one in the room who looks like you, overcoming the stereotype of being weaker or the other stereotype that a guy can’t lose to a girl. And then there are also the “behind…