Types of Struggle You Face As A Teenager(3UN_JEE) Struggle 1 - Social Changes
12:26PM:
I sat down at our table and waited for everyone else since I was always early. Su-mi, Chae-eun, and Ga-hyun came and placed their water bottles down and went in line to go get their lunch. Finally, Si-eun came last like always but she was quieter today. Normally she would chatter when she came but she wasn’t as talkative. I assumed that she was tired and waited for everyone to go get their lunch.
Everyone got their lunch and started to talk. However, I noticed something, Su-mi and Si-eun weren’t sitting next to each other as they always did and they weren’t talking to each other. In fact, it looked like they were trying to sit as far away from each other as possible. I didn’t think much of it because I didn’t want to make too many assumptions and kept quiet.

9:42PM:
(You are getting a call from Su-mi.)
I pick up the phone.
Su-mi and I begin to talk about our day and how school went. Then, I thought about what happened with Su-mi and Si-eun and I wanted to ask her about it. I wasn’t sure if she would answer honestly but I decided to give it a shot.
“Hey Su-mi,” I spoke.
“Yeah?” she answered.
“What happened with you and Si-eun, did you guys maybe.. fight?” I asked.
“Oh.” She paused. “Well, she always excludes me and leaves me out, so I just didn’t talk to her today because there was no point anyways. She always talks to Ar-eum instead of me anyways.”
“Why don’t you just try to talk to her?” I questioned.
“Don’t you think I already tried that? She was so rude to me and avoided me today!” she yelled.
“Oh, I see.. Well, I’m going to work on my homework now, see you tomorrow!” I said and ended the call.
They’ll probably get over it tomorrow and talk again, after all, they ALWAYS do.’

The next day:
“Hey Si-eun!” I yell.
“Oh, hey,” she says in a tired voice.
“Can you save me a seat in art class? I’m gonna be at my locker for a while,” I ask.
“Sure.” She runs off, leaving me.

In Art class:
I continue to draw but I stop and stare at Si-eun for a moment.
“Um hey Si-eun?” I begin.
“Yeah?” She looks up.
“Is there anything going on with you and Su-mi?” I ask.
“I don’t know, why don’t you ask Su-mi?” her voice deepens.
She looks back down and proceeds to continue on her art. I think nothing of it and also work on my assignment. She’s probably just tired, after all, our projects for Science and US History are due this week.
At lunch:
Again, I was the first one and saved a table for our group. Everyone came and then Si-eun came last. However, this time, she brought Ar-eum and sat further away. I guess they really weren’t getting along but it’s okay, it just takes time. They can’t mend their friendship in just a day obviously, I think to myself.
Everyone got their lunch and sat down. Suddenly, Su-mi taps me and starts to whisper in my ear.
“Ugh, she always does this, she’s obviously talking bad about me to Ar-eum.”
I chuckle awkwardly and turn back to eat my lunch.
“I’m gonna sit with Kyung-ah tomorrow, I can’t deal with this anymore.”
“Can I sit with you, I don’t wanna leave you alone,” I ask.
“Ugh, but then Si-eun is gonna follow us and be rude to me again,” she sighs. “Okay, fine. You can sit with me tomorrow since you’re my friend.”
I smile weakly and eat lunch awkwardly for the rest of the day.
When school is over:
Should I call Si-eun? She seemed unhappy today but I just want to check on her.. Ugh, I’ll just do it, it’s worth a try.
I called her and got no answer. She texts me,
What?
Hey, I just want to call you, I’m bored and I have nothing to do, I text back.
Can’t.
Why? It’s not even that late and you don’t even have hagwon or tutor today. (Hagwon = profitable private institution where most Korean students go after school or on weekends to get more advanced education)
I’m studying, maybe tomorrow.
Oh alright, goodnight.
Bye.
I sigh, why are they making such a big deal out of this small problem. I decided to turn my lamp on and sit at my window sill with my headphones on. For some reason, tears came out of my eyes. Why am I crying? I’m not even involved in this and it will probably be resolved tomorrow anyways.. Wiping away my tears, I turn my lamp off and go to bed.

Struggle 2 - Academic Struggles.
Today was another awkward day of school. Su-mi was frustrated Si-eun came so she kept moving tables back and forth. Chae-eun didn’t want to deal with this and wanted to sit with Ha-young at a different table. Chae-eun was my best friend and I wanted to sit with her so we decided to go sit at a different table alone with the younger graders instead.
Enough of that, I had to work on my homework for hagwon tomorrow. The teacher assigned us to read a book and highlight the important parts. I worked on it until 1 in the morning and went to bed.

The next day at hagwon:
I did my homework and was happy. I then got a notification that my science retake for my test had come out. I got a C, it was better than before but it wasn’t a good grade. I had so many friends who got better scores than me, I needed to work harder. On top of that, my US History quiz came out and I got an F. My friends and classmates all got As, I think that it was just me that failed the quiz. My report card has been looking shabby today and there’s going to be a parent-teacher conference next week. My parents were going to see how much I struggled and decreased at school. It was the last year of middle school, so of course they’re going to care about it the most. They’ve already started to nag me about getting better grades for some of the classes that I was struggling in. I keep staying up late and procrastinating which I really want to stop. I haven’t been able to sleep for more than five hours and my skin was already getting worse. Hopefully, it gets better.

Struggle 3 - Physical Appearance.
I swear I’ve been gaining so much weight these past few months. I gained 2 kilograms already. People tell me that it’s because I’m growing but I haven’t seen an increase in my height at all. It might be because I haven’t slept properly this year. I’m already the shortest in my grade and the younger graders are all so much taller than me. I really need to start sleeping before two. My skin is getting so many pimples and it’s making me look like a pepperoni pizza. Oh well, I hope it gets better.

Ending:
I always hope that everything gets better but I feel like everything is getting worse: The changes, the struggles at school, and everything. I knew that this was a common thing because people would always tell me about it and how they hated it. I never thought that it would happen to me because I always had a stable social life, good grades, and never thought much about my appearance. If I had to rank my struggles from most to least, it would probably be my social struggles, my grades, and my physical appearance. I don’t really care about how I look because I don’t think I look that bad but I sometimes still think about how I should put more care into my grades. I also think that I should try to ignore my problems in my friend group but it’s hard to do so. I hope that anyone going through changes as a teenager or even people in adulthood or adolescence can get over their problems and always look at the brighter side. I hope that I can overcome this and that everything will eventually turn out okay for me.
Disclaimer: All names used in this story are fake or altered.

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