American Teen The Movie

So last night I watched American Teen The Movie, a documentary following five seniors from small town Indiana. In essence it was an hour and half long episode of The Hills. Except unlike the Hills American teen followed a cross section of the High School culture. They had the jock, the rich snob, the artsty rebel, the quite nerd, and the jock with a soft side. Despite the staged dialogue, the catty high school drama, and the awkward animated cut aways, the documentary did offer a poignant portrayal of the high school experience.

As I was watching the documentary I thought back to the last couple of years of my high school career. American Teen focused on the teens vying for which school they would attention for college, who they would go to prom with, then of course graduation. My last year of high school was unique in comparison to most of the people I went to school with, as well as very unique in comparison to the teens of American Teen.

First of all I only went to the fall semester of my senior year. I graduate in December so that I could go down to Guatemala. So I missed out on many of the rites of passage involved with the senior year. I didn’t walk at graduation; I didn’t go to my senior prom. I also didn’t have to worry about what college was going to accept me. I applied to only one college, visited only one college, and that college at the time had something like 95% acceptance rate. Good ole JBC!

However, I’ve had my own rites of passage that, for me, mark the passage from high school to beyond. The first would be when I moved out of my father’s house, into my brother and sister-in-law’s house, then into an apartment with my mom (all within a five week span). Then there was the thanksgiving with my mom’s side of the family not too long after my Grandma won her fight with lung cancer. Then there is going to Guatemala and living in a foreign country for four months right as I was turning eighteen.

I didn’t have the traditional, stereotypical, high school rites of passage. There were times when I regretted – no, rather I missed – not having these traditional experiences. However, as I’ve matured, as my late high school and early college years are separated from the present more and more. I can look back and appreciate that I took a different road – and not wanting to go into a triad of clichés I’ll stop that line of thought. The experience that have marked the last four to five years of my life are unique to me. They are what make me who I am. I wouldn’t trade them for the life of American Teen The Movie – no I wouldn’t trade them for nothing.

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Grace and Peace

Justin Friel