Memories of My Teenage Years!

I remember being in a very empowering girl group by chance when I was 13. After a stressful first year at a new school, I met a new friend in a different class who loved and cared about me deeply and took me under her wing. Because of her, I automatically became part of that girl group.

Some of us were quiet, but most were open, free, brave, and real practical jokers. There were over ten of us, and we had to give ourselves nicknames as a group rule. However, I think only one remarkable name stayed with its person even after many years. It was a Japanese name, and I still remember it even though I can't recall my own nickname. We might have had other ground rules, but I don't remember them.

We had fun group activities, looked out for each other, and did things together. Eventually, our male classmates named us "stormtroopers" after a name from our history lessons. It was the name of a Nazi group, but we didn't mind. We laughed off all the criticism around us. We felt safe within our group.

One day, a few group members came to class early and wrote love letters using our male classmates' names for each girl in our group. I got one too. I felt something was off and didn't feel anything. Some people got angry and planned to complain to our class teacher, but when we started to gather, the ones who organized it laughed and confessed it was just a tease.

I was still quiet, but I was no longer isolated. I had a group of friends who bossed me around, guided me, and were curious about my life and my likes and dislikes. I felt a sense of belonging. I even occasionally participated in weekend gatherings. The year after that, we were split into different classes and were no longer a group.

Due to some personal problems at home, I lost interest in studying and failed a small exam for the first time in my life. Although I never failed big exams, I failed small exams twice in my life: the first time was then, and the second time was in my second year of medical school.

I was stressed and unhappy again. To add to my stress, a few friends accused my close friend and me of being lovers instead of friends. I started to feel uncomfortable and tried to distance myself from her. She still tried to protect me, advising me not to make friends with certain people, but I eventually stopped listening to her. However, we remained friends for many years.

These are some of the memories that came to mind tonight.

image generated with AI