From the time you are born till the day you die, you are stuck on a complex journey.  This journey will bring you a mix of emotions, people to meet, and adventures to take on. Every day is different from the next and things are constantly changing. You don't know when the journey will come to an end, no one does, so you just sit back and take it all in. This journey is called life.

Your life is a period of time filled with memories, challenges, failures, and success. It can be hard sometimes, but it can also give you some of the greatest things in the world. It is a period of highs and lows that will affect who you will become by the end of it. Some days will make you feel like you’re on cloud nine, but the next you’ve hit rock bottom. It throws stuff your way that you aren't always prepared for and can make you feel sad and worthless. Other times, it will bring you feelings of great joy and love. Life is always changing and never remains constant.  You will learn many lessons along your way and learn to look at things differently as time evolves. There are many things in your life that will affect who you are as a person and what your plan is for the future.

This first step of your journey is your childhood.  As a child, you looked at the world a little differently than how you do now. You only saw the good and simplicity of the journey. Your day consisted of coloring and playing. There was not much stress at this age and all you wanted to do was grow up. You were carefree and excited to continue on your journey.

The next step of your journey is adolescence. You are now growing up and are starting to look at the world in a different way. This can be good but it could also bring stress and confusion into your life. Once you are an adolescent, you will start school and begin your academic career. In school, more is being expected of you, which can cause you to become stressed and confused. You will constantly be learning new things and meeting new people. These new people can bring different emotions into your life. They will make you feel love, anger, trust, and even hate. The actions these people commit towards you will affect you as a person.  During these years, you will find out what your interests are and what kind of person you are or want to be. At the last of these years, you have become comfortable with where you are, but you still want more. So let’s continue on your journey and see what life has to bring.

The third stage of your life is your teenage years. This is time will greatly affect who you are as a person and how you will continue on your journey. This is probably one of the hardest stages of your journey. During this time, you will begin a big and complex adventure. This adventure is high school. In high school, a lot will be expected of you. You will need to learn how to balance your schedule and be prepared.  You will take many assessments and have a lot of homework. It is important to do well on these things in order to get into a good college. This can cause you to become stressed and can cause anxiety. Although high school can be very difficult, it can also be the highlight of your life. This is where you can meet your longtime best friends, discover who you are as a person, and help you decide what the next stage of your life will be. The people you meet during your teenage years will come and go or they will stick with you throughout your journey. You will learn that people change and not everything was meant to last forever. One thing that can affect your journey in high school is parties. Parties are very fun and carefree, but they could also destroy your future. Those who make reckless decisions at these events risk ruining their future. You will learn to think about things before you do them and think about how it will affect you and the those around you. Another thing that will affect your teenage years is your relationships.  In high school, you will begin to look at boys or girls differently. You will catch feelings for a few people and decide to try things out. Some of these relationships can be filled with love and passion, while others can be filled with lust and carelessness. Some of these relationships can make you feel like you are on cloud nine but when they end they can make you feel like you’ve hit rock bottom. Hitting rock bottom will leaving feeling empty and worthless, but this feeling will only lead you to better things. Once your at the bottom the only way you can go is up. You will learn to appreciate the good things in life over the bad and will learn to love yourself more than anyone ever could. You will become stronger because of this experience. Even though these teenage years can make you feel like you want sometimes to end your journey, they can also make you look ahead for the positive things in the future. Leaving high school will be bitter-sweet. You will miss all your friends and teachers, but you are ready to continue on with your journey and see what it has to offer.

The next stage of your life is pre-adult.  As a pre-adult, you are preparing to be fully responsible for your life and take the lead on this journey. You will be expected to make important decisions, provide for yourself, and produce an income. During this stage, you will most likely be attending college, where you will learn information about your future occupation. What you major in will be very important when applying for jobs, so much consideration goes into planning this. You will choose your classes based on what occupation you are trying to pursue.  This will most definitely take a lot of concentration, time, and determination. It can cause you a great deal of stress if you do not prepare yourself beforehand. In college, you will be living on your own, which means you will need to be able to provide for yourself. In order to provide for yourself, you will need some sort of income. Finding a job in college is key to being about to survive it. You will need to be able to buy the necessities monthly and be able to pay rent if renting an apartment. These reasons can make a college to seem like a challenge but it can also be fun. In college, you have a great deal of freedom. You can go anywhere and do anything. Parties are the main activity on college campuses. Yes, partying is fun, but it could also bring big consequences if you are not careful. One stupid decision could affect your whole future. Relationships also become a bigger deal in college.  Dating in college is a bit more serious than when you were in high school. You are getting older and are searching for something a bit more serious. At this time, you might be looking for the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. This can be exciting but it could also be distracting. In college, you must keep your priorities, priorities and not push them aside for a relationship. When you are almost done with college you will probably be ecstatic and be ready to be an independent adult. You are so ready to continue on your journey and see what is coming.

The second to last stage of your life is adulthood. As an adult, you are completely responsible for your life. You need to get a job and a place to live. When finding a job, your degree from college will have an impact on what that career is. If you are not satisfied with your degree you might go back to get another. Once you find a job you will have a steady income. With this income, you will be able to but the necessities you need. Finding a place to stay is also a major thing for adults. An apartment is what most adults straight out of college usually get. You will need to find an apartment you can afford and be able to get to your job. It is important to have these things because without them you will struggle greatly. Once you have the important things, you can then have fun being an adult. You have complete freedom over your life and do anything you want. One thing you might want is a spouse. Dating as an adult is very serious. You can go on dates and even move in with your boyfriend/girlfriend. You are ready for marriage and are just waiting for the right time. You find them, the perfect person. They are nice, caring, and most importantly love you. You are so excited that you found them and are ready to spend the rest of your life with them. Once you just married there is a possibility that you will want to have children. You imagine having a child to be fun and exciting, but it takes a lot of work and focus. You and your spouse are now responsible for a human being, this can be scary but you will get used to it. You need to be able to provide for you and your child, which means you will need more income. Having a family requires living in a loving home. You will buy the perfect house and will make memories there. Your child will grow up and continue their journey of life, just like you did, and make their own memories. It is just you and your spouse, and you are ready to move onto the last and final stage of your journey.

The last and final stage of your journey is becoming an elder. Look at you, you have become a strong, independent, responsible and smart individual. You are now looking back on all the memories you have made throughout your journey. You are telling your grandchildren about all the lessons you have learned throughout it. As you feel your time coming to an end you feel proud of your journey and what you have accomplished. You wish you could continue on but you know its time for your journey to end. You say your goodbyes and cross the finish line. Congratulations, you have completed your journey.