My Teenage She-roes

I have two amazing 17-year-old women in my life. One is my sister-in-law, Lizzie and the other is a young lady that I tutor in English, Kelsey. These girls give me faith in the younger generation because they are smart, down-to-earth, confident and amazingly drama-free for teenage girls. They are a step ahead of their peers for sure. Of course they have emotions and worries and problems like everyone else, but it's in the way they deal with those problems and don't let them affect their personalities or relationships that make them so wonderful.

First my sister-in-law Lizzie. She's seriously one of the coolest people I know and by cool I mean, truly cool without even trying. First of all, and this is by no means the most important thing about her, she is a great dresser. She wears clothes that are relaxed, fashion-forward and age appropriate all at the same time. Her awesome dressing ability, however, is a reflection of her great personality. She is also astoundingly busy for someone her age between school, sports, volunteering and other extracurriculars, but it seems like she still always invests a lot of effort into the people she cares about, her family and friends. She's got her priorities straight at 17, a feat that I still struggle with at 27. Of course she's still learning about herself and her place in the world, but I feel like I can learn a lot from her too. Oh, and she's gorgeous and tall, so she's pretty much the total package. I'm stoked that my children will share genes with her and look to her as a role model because she already makes a good one.

Danny and I with my siblings-in-law. Seriously, how cute is she?

Kelsey is another young woman from whom I've learned a great deal. Honestly, if she and Lizzie knew each other, I'm pretty sure they'd be friends because they share many similar qualities. I began tutoring Kelsey last year before I got my current job and needed some extra money. Now that I have a full-time position, tutoring isn't really essential financially, but I have no intention of giving it up because I genuinely look forward to my time with Kelsey. I love working with her because she genuinely likes learning. She's also outgoing and fun and enthusiastic, but my favorite thing about her is her curiosity and hunger to learn. I love talking with her about her assigned books from English and seeing her think of something in a different way or suddenly realizing a new point that she hadn't before. Honestly, I also think my working with her has indirectly led to my writing on this blog. She's helped me rediscover my love of expressing my thoughts in writing because I've been helping her do just that for the past year and watching as she genuinely grows to enjoy it as well.

Basically these two young ladies have been inspirations to me and no doubt to the other people around them. These girls are going to do great things, and in fact, I think they already have, just by being themselves. Thank goodness for these girls and others like them, because the world can use every amazing woman it can get.