I’ve been trying to utilize my social media much more lately, especially Twitter, and I came across the hashtag #teenblogger. I clicked on it and was pleasantly surprised and interested to find teen bloggers doing their thing on the internet. I was impressed. I was thinking how awesome it was that they were starting so young, where they would go in life, etc, etc. Then, somehow it hit me.

I’m a teen blogger.

I think right now I’m mourning because I could’ve been using the teenblogger hashtag this entire time and haven’t.

I’ve always felt weary of telling people my age, that they would think me silly or not dedicated or not worth their time reading. In the About Me section to your right, I thought long and hard about whether I should give my age or not. I finally decided on yes, because I was afraid my profile picture (like all my pictures) would make me appear actually younger than I really am.

It’s becoming obvious to me that I think too much about this. That being said, I’m here to raise my arms and proclaim to the world that yes, I AM A TEEN BLOGGER.

“Teen” anything felt belittling to me. Teenagers get a lot of flack, let’s be honest. We’re (see, I’m using we’re) thought of in synonymous with puberty, acne, braces, and the further extents of our “ugly stage.”

We’re thought of as rebellious and back-talking.

We’re thought of as having our eye on the wrong goal, whether it be a bad relationship or a small and minuscule goal like winning prom queen that is taking up all our attention.

But teens who are doing something with their lives early, who are writing blogs, teaching Sunday school, going on mission trips, planning out productive goals for their life, these teens should be recognized and applauded.

I don’t know why it just occurred to me that I’m a teen. I was actually looking at it in the “I only have one more year to go then I’m a teen NO MORE!” light. But I was impressed that there are normal people out there younger than me writing blogs and pursuing their passions.

I don’t know why I ever thought someone might think differently about me.

I’ve been a blogger since I was about twelve. I’m just as shocked as you are. My first post was published in 2009, I just checked. That’s pretty impressive. But the thing is, I didn’t know it was impressive. I just do it because I love to write. I love describing my feelings and thoughts and rewriting and rewriting until I’m left with exactly what I want to say.

I’m going to be supporting more and more teen bloggers. I think what they’re doing is awesome, and I know what it’s like to get crazy excited because my article got a comment, or a like, or someone new is following my blog. (I’m definitely still that way!)

I want to be a young adult author. So I’m kicking it into gear and diving straight back into puberty (in so many terms, hopefully avoiding things like acne and boy drama..).

I want to apologize to teen bloggers or teens in general for denying our cult. I shall deny no more! Well, until March of next year, then we’ll all cry together as I get booted from the cliche.

So yes, I’m a teen blogger! I have hopes and dreams and drama and school and bad skin days. I eat a lot of junk food. Netflix is my second best friend. I love to sleep. And I still ask my mom to order for me at restaurants. Though in that case, some things don’t ever change, let’s be honest.