I’m not 18

I don’t have children

I don’t pay bills

Does that mean I don’t have the mind of an adult

Am I not capable of the same things as you

I wake up everyday

Take the same road

Go to work

Is it not the lifestyle but the experience

Teach me

Inform me

Educate me

Don’t shut me down

Internal struggles mature me

Personal reflection ages me

Observations from the outside and the inside expose me

Yes, I’m a minor

No, I am not a child

Yes, I need guidance

No, I don’t need to be spoon fed

Yes, I am a teen

And, yes, I am independent

Dasia Evertsz is a 17-year-old girl who enjoys singing.