By Summer Crawford

Staff Writer

Amidst every teenager’s busy life, filled to the brim with all sorts of activities and school work, there is one thing that we teenagers tend to forget. We sometimes get so caught up in trying to grow up and exceed expectations that we do not set aside moments to appreciate our childhood.

Childhood represents a time period when there is no worry of what was to come, only thoughts of the wildest dreams our minds could conjure up. The memories that we made, seemingly a very long time ago, will stay with us forever. I like to think that every person has a different story and that childhood memories should be cherished because everyone remembers that one happy experience, that one dazzling light among the events of our crowded lives.

I have lived in Coppell since I was 4, basically my entire life. I remember all of the things I used to do and love and I realize now that my childhood was the foundation for my future. What I did then I remember now, and it has impacted me and made me who I am today.

Let us go back in time to a couple years ago when I was just a kid with a hope to accomplish my goals of doing well in school and create lasting friendships. I can remember spending hours every single week running around neighborhoods with my closest friends, not afraid to get my hands or clothes dirty. Our favorite thing to do was get the group together and wander through the fields out back behind the railroad, climbing trees and gushing to one another about our dreams.

I remember horseback riding with friends, and as soon as one barn would close down, we would relocate somewhere else, always sure to keep riding. When the barn in Coppell shut down, I remember a friend’s mom taking me to the city hall to hear the city council discuss the case. I wanted to keep the barn badly, but in the end I had to accept that I was not going to get my way on everything.

Another one of my favorite memories was collecting stacks of Disney movies and watching them with eager eyes and a hopeful heart. I was ecstatic at the chance to escape to another world, one where I could be one of the “lost children” or one of the important princesses. All of those movies taught me that the mind is a powerful thing. Most importantly, they taught me to dream.

All of these lessons I learned while I was a mere child. Some people think that childhood is just a stepping stone to get to the adult side, and while yes it is important to make the transition from child to teenager and then adult, I say childhood is for being carefree and living in the moment. It is a valuable time where you experience things and tell yourself “I am just a kid.”

Whenever I went to my grandmother’s house she would tell me that I had it good, and to appreciate what I had because soon enough it would be over. I did not truly understand the meaning of this until now, roughly 10 years later. Childhood is about putting aside any worrying thoughts of high school or the future, and learning to have all the fun you can.

I yearn to travel back in time and to have a moment, no matter how small, like the moments I had when I was a young kid having a blast. While I appreciate where I am right now and all of the hard work and effort it has taken to get so far, I still keep pieces of my childhood as a part of my heart.

I urge people, while on their quest to grow up, to not lose their childhood memories along the way. I have learned so many lessons from when I was younger that have affected me today, enabling me to not make the same mistake twice or to strive higher. I have learned to dream and be positive, because in 30 years from now I want to look back and tell my children, who will then tell their own children, of the adventurous spirit I had while I was young.