This Teenage Life

Many of us have or want adult in our lives who make us feel safe, seen, and heard. When teachers take the time to get to know us, they often transcend their role as subject guides and become more like life mentors. In this epsiode, we discuss how teachers can be open and make us feel safe while also being professional. This episode is sponsored by the XQ institute. Check them out at xqsuperschool.org. If you're a student, or even a teacher who may be listening to better understand your students, you can join the conversation at XQ America on social.

This episode highlights two conversations had in the process of making "Finding Meaningful Work: Navigating Pressures Around Chosen Career Paths and Finding Joy in the Process," with Rei and Ricky, sisters who work in the environmental science and policy field and Hannah Testa, a youth activist who started a nonprofit in high school called Hannah for Change. This episode explores topics of cultivating hope in the face of the climate crisis, being empowered in finding a career path that suits you, and not letting your age define who you are or the work that you do. 

As a young person, it is okay to not know what you want to do. There is a lot of pressure placed on teenagers to know what they want their careers to look like, but how does one know what they want to do, and how they want to do it?  In this episode of This Teenage Life, Stella, Jayden and Lydia explore questions around meaningful work. What does "meaningful work" mean? How does one balance financial responsibility, familial and societal pressure in chosen career paths? Is it realistic to find joy in one's work in this day and age? Through conversations with the current teens on TTL, friends and family, and established people in her career of interest, Stella, the college student on This Teenage Life reflects on her own journey in finding a career path that feels meaningful to her. 

In this re-released episode, Stella shares her experiences processing the loss of her Dad. She explores societal expectations of closure and how they diverge from her own understandings of loss and ambiguity. Trigger warning— this episode references suicide. If you or anyone you know is struggling with this, here are some resources:  US National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 800-273-8255 Resources in India: http://www.aasra.info/helpline.html

In this re-released episode, the teens chat with Aleeza and Fonzo, the hosts of The Moth's teen podcast, Grown — here on  Apple podcasts and Spotify. They discuss their daydreams, hopes, and anxieties about growing up and becoming people they want to be.