How A Person Matures and Grows

There are many symbols of maturity in today's society.
A teenager jumps for joy when they get their own cell
phone or car. When a teen is allowed to have certain
rights or responsibilities they were not allowed before,
it means, to them, a great deal and is a symbol of being
trusted, older, and more mature. However, there is much
more to growing up than gaining something you did not
have before. There are many elements to growing up:
transferring from childhood to adulthood and immaturity
to maturity. As a person grows, they cannot help but
change. These changes, resulting from experiences or
hormones, lead to growth and maturity. Although this
"rolling" through life will never be completely easy
and a person can never be fully matured, for no one is
perfect and no life is perfect, the process of maturing
and growing is part of life; no one can escape it. We
all experience things in our life that we never forget;
whether it be relationships, losing someone, or living
by yourself. Our experiences affect our lives; without
them, there would be no change. When Meleani Wheeler
was in her early thirties, her mother died; this not
only mad her mature a little more, but also affected
her daughter's growth in later years. The maturing of
a person never stops, just as a person never stops
learning from their mistakes.

Growth is an ongoing process. As a child gets older,
they go to school, learn certain things, and become
more aware of things: They receive responsibilities,
and learn to care for themselves. The person must now
take burdens upon themselves; they are no longer the
innocent childlike onlooker. Their views begin to take
shape, and their thoughts control how they do everything.
They are influenced by those around them, simply starting
out as someone learning about things, they start to
form opinions of their own. They form relationships,
do things, and realize certain truths. They learn to
accept differences in people conform or stand out from
society, and make decisions that they now have a good
enough understanding to make. As life continues, all
these things shape their experiences or reactions to
experiences; and these reactions and experiences affect
the way they think even more, and, so, the pattern
continues. However, maturing also has it bad side,
and the bad effects can often outweigh the good.
Along with learning good things, a person can learn
to reject things or people, as well as responsibilities.
Shunning assignments or responsibilities is seen in
today's society often, even on the smallest scale
such as not doing your school homework. As we mature
and grow we can learn both good habits and bad. Some
maturing experiences wound us, such as the death of a
loved one or the rejection of a parent. Such
experiences can lead to a teen becoming Gothic or
running away. John Wheeler ran away when his hurtful
father died, and ended up in jail, but in the end,
this led to a great change in his life. When a sad or
painful experience comes a person's way, it scars them
for life and causes emotional pain that never leaves.
Those who experienced the Oklahoma City bombing and
survived will be haunted by it forever. No matter how
great the good or the bad, such experiences are
unavoidable and shape who we become.

Experiences, or possible, made up experiences that lead
to the maturing and growth of a person, are often
recorded or written in a novel or bo0ok. By putting
these things down in written form, we are given
something, or someone, to relate to. Such an example
of this is Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn." The story follows two people, Huck and Jim,
on their adventure down the Mississippi River. As Huck's
adventure develops, he experiences certain things,
and, through them, he matures. Although Huck's
childish side is always present, evident in his
constant lying, and will never leave him entirely,
he often shows an adult side. He has an abusive
father; this affects him in many ways and causes
him to always be more mature than others. As the
story goes on, he runs away and helps Jim escape.
His actions and thoughts often represent his mature
side, such as when he decides to stop playing tricks
on Jim. He sends a ferry to save the robbers and takes
on helping the duke and the king, but hides the money
later to keep them from stealing it. When Tom is
shot in the leg, Huck gets the doctor, against Tom's
wishes. He also shows maturity in the way he reflects
about the feud and has the courage to move on.
Throughout the novel, Huck gradually comes to
realize that blacks have just as much emotion
as him and begins to accept the differences in
people. There is also maturity shown in Jim when
he comes out of hiding to help the doctor with Tom,
even though he knows it may cost him his freedom. Jim
and Huck have experiences together, throughout the
novel, representing the growth and maturity of people
as they go through life, The characters in the novel
are still present today, and, therefore, give us
someone to relate to as we experience growth and
maturity.

We all go through experiences, changes, growth, and
maturity. These things have a lasting affect on our
lives, whether it is good or bad, and are part of
life. From these things, we get symbols and
representations of life, which can be used
commercially, n the media, on TV, in the movies, or
in books that we can use to relate our life to. These
experiences, symbols, changes, and representations
are the elements of growing up and transferring from
childhood to adulthood: immaturity to maturity.