MLIA

Everyone talks about the pressures teens face today.  How much harder it is now with social media gone mad, cyber-bullying, sexts (sex texts), etc.  But what about how much cooler it is to be a teen today than it was when I was in high school?  I was one of those teens that didn't really fit in anywhere.  Into athletics, but not a jock, into being cool, but not a cheerleader, pretty much anti-school and anti-institution, but not the grass-roots type.  Non-committal, you might say.  By my senior year, I only had two friends I really liked and connected with: Zoe Tsavdarides and Rica Pargas.  Two of the coolest, prettiest and smartest women I've ever met to date, by the way.  Zoe went on to Interlochen, then Reed and is now working as a teacher/artist in Greece.  Rica is now superwoman.  A Georgetown alum, she's a chemical engineer, mother of two and is prettier than ever.  My point is, even though I didn't know who I was at 17, there were awesome people that I connected with, even at crappy little D.W. Daniel High School in Central, S.C.   But all that time, there were teens all over the world just like me.  And, think I could have found them on this website: http://mylifeisaverage.com/
If you're not familiar, Mylifeisaverage.com (MLIA) is hilarious.  Here's a couple posts from today that made me laugh:
Today, me and a few other kids had to retake a test. The teacher had to go talk to the principal about something, so as soon as he left the room, we all started helping each other with the answers. He then snuck back in without us noticing, sat at a desk in the back, and loudly whispered "What's number 27?" We all gave him the answer, then turned around to see him cracking up. He gave us five extra points for teamwork. Best teacher ever. MLIA
My little brother often watches football with my dad and sometimes my dad will cuss while he's watching. Today my mom told me that my little brother got put in time out today in kindergarten because he was trying to hold another kid's hand and the kid refused to hold his hand so he said "HOLD MY HAND DAMN IT!!" We told my dad later and he said well at least he used it right. MLIA
Somehow, I think the internet and sites like MLIA let kids know they're not alone and that there's a big world out there that extends very far from their little high school.  Not to mention, it offers a platform for fun, creative writing.  Something missed by so many English/Lit teachers is that writing should be inspired.  And while MLIA posts are likely half-truths to outright fiction in most cases, they're certainly, inspired.