Growing-up is maturing, in the sense that one, through life experiences, had grown to be

practical, responsible, and wise.

Throughout all our lives, we are told that “growing-up” means to become an adult. It

means that you are longer a toddler, for you have outgrown your infantile ways. You no longer

throw tantrums and depend completely upon your caretaker. You are no longer a child, for you

are no longer prepubescent. You have ceased your juvenile behavior and take upon more

responsibility. You are no longer a teenager, for you have developed completely. You do not act

upon spontaneous urges and have evolved to fend for yourself. You are an adult. You work, go

to college, have relationships, and form a family. Most people accept this as the standard

definition for growing up. I, however, do not.

Instead of associating growing up with adulthood, I associate growing up with maturity.

One does not necessarily have to be adult to be grown up, for there have been a number of

instances where being an adult did not make people grow up. For example, there have be

countless times in history adults committed seriously immature acts, such as drinking and

driving. They were irresponsible and put themselves in danger, as well as the lives of others in

peril. Grown ups would not do such hazardous acts. Rather, they are rational and think about the

consequences of their actions. They are sagacious enough to comprehend that their safety, as

well as the safety of others do matter. They understand that drinking and driving, and other

similar acts, would compromise this. A person who in spite of being a college graduate, a

professional in the work setting, who is married with children that commits acts like the one

mentioned above is not a grown up. They are not sensible, responsible, or shrewd. They are

immature and thus, not grown up. Instead, a minor, who although has had a relatively small

number of life experiences, is practical, takes upon obligations, is willing to be subjected to

accountability, and is wise, is more of a grown up than an actual adult in many cases. The minor,

despite being a minor, has had enough life experiences to be mature. Some adults, although

having had various life experiences, cannot say the same. Hence, my definition of growing up is

maturing, because maturity does not depend on age, but upon the practicality, responsibility and

wisdom a person bears.

Hello Serden! I am quite fond of your response. It is quite intriguing. I like that you associated growing up with learning and
provided your life experiences as an example. You addressed the prompt perfectly. I agree that growing up is learning, for to
learn is to mature. As you said, when one learns and educates themselves about the world, such as how their surroundings
function and what exactly it means to undergo puberty, they will begin to understand more about themselves and what it truly
means to be an adult that has grown up and become mature. When a person learns, they become knowledgeable. When a person
becomes knowledgeable, they become wise. Those with wisdom have proven themselves to be some of the most significant
figures in history. They are, in a sense, some of the most important "grown-ups!" Also, I'd also like to mention how I enjoyed that
you expressed hat learning is also reflecting. When a person reflects upon their previous actions, understands the error in their
moves, adapts and makes changes to their character so as to not make these mistakes again, they are maturing. They are growing
up. The wisest people in the ages of the world express that reflection upon one's self is key in being able to move on and mature.
It helps them evolve and grow up, because it allows them to see where they went wrong and grants the opportunity to better
themselves. Overall, your response was excellent. It was a pleasure to read it. Still, I'd like to ask you a question. Do you believe
that learning is synonymous with maturing or not? Some people debate on this. I would like to hear your take on this. I await
your response with glee.