Co-authored with Salar Korangy

Adolescence has always been a season of becoming. One of its most striking features is the dawning awareness that childhood is ending and adulthood is coming into view. This realization touches nearly every part of a young person’s life: how they think, what they value, and, increasingly, how they understand the world beyond their own front door. Yet many teens encounter a familiar frustration as they begin to speak with more complexity—the sense of being dismissed, underestimated, or gently waved aside. This is not only about politics. It is about being recognized as someone with a mind of their own: thoughtful, discerning, and actively forming a place in the world.

As we enter a new year, it is worth asking whether we are ready to see teens not simply as children passing through a phase, but as emerging adults—citizens at the brink—already practicing how to engage with the future they will inherit.

There is a moment in adolescence when a young person begins to feel their own edges more clearly—where they end and where the world begins. Psychologists describe this as identity formation, but to teens it often carries a simpler, more urgent message: I’m growing up. Please see that. They are learning to separate without severing, to distinguish their own voice from the chorus of voices that raised them. This process can feel unsettling to adults who still hold an image of who they once were, but it is also a sign of healthy development.

I often share a story with my students that reminds me of my own short-sightedness with teens ( I work hard on seeing more clearly now!). I remember when my daughter bought her first car. Melissa is 36 now and on her third, but at the time, I felt a familiar mix of pride and fear. It was surprisingly hard to hold the image of........

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