“Turning in My Megazords® for Tax Deductions”

“Bad habits die hard, I know. But am I the only one who can’t keep them dead and buried?” It has been only 35 days since I completed 24 years of living, but I can honestly say that for the first time in a long time, I feel like my psychological and biological selves have finally converged. Happy happy, joy joy!! (yes, a Ren and Stimpy reference; I do these things) Yet, I do have a serious dilemma: I am also 330 days away from being 25, the official age of “being grown.” Albeit there are perks to this milestone (e.g. lowered rates of insurance and car rentals, admission into certain governmental programs and jobs), other aspects outright turn me newborn chick yellow (e.g. end of legal dependent status, BILLS-BILLS-BILLS). An even larger concern is the self-expectation to “have it all together” by showing impervious and fluid consistency in good behaviors and acutely lessening the bad ones—which may sound hypocritical as I’m living “#ThePerfectlyImperfectLife.” If I am to be a full-fledged adult, this is what’s necessary…right? (And honestly, is it really possible?)

Many neurologists and developmental psychologists have observed significant patterns occurring in the brain during the time of adolescence, specifically in the area of the forebrain known as the PREFRONTAL CORTEX (or PFC; click here for visual). It is said that the prefrontal cortex form around the age of three years old, the same time the ability of memory is reported to start. The PFC is also closely related to a person’s decision-making skills. In his book, The Prefrontal Cortex—Executive and Cognitive Functions (Oxford, 1999), Dr. Simon Gerhand discusses the cognitive skills affected people by injuries in the PFC—some of those skills being problem solving, planning, and reasoning—as people with such insults still retain their intellect and sensory skills. More so than the other sections of the brain, the PFC undergoes crucial development during the adolescent stage of life. Even more important to note, the PFC completes its growth at the end of a person’s adolescence, usually at 25 years of age.

Here is something to consider: The brain, no matter your age, is still capable of receiving new information well. That said, the way the “middle-aged you” will perceive and utilize information, dependent upon the situation, will vary very little from how you did in earlier years. I try not to stress myself on this; lo que será será. But you have to admit, being “stuck on stupid” just got a little bit more real, right? #LetsFixThat

- Brandon Avery

“‘To You, This Is Just a Rough Time…’”

“Even though I never experienced anything other than the ’hood, I know there is more than this in the world. But why can’t anyone else see that?” By this time, you’ve probably heard every single Christmas song made in existence via radio—and we still have nearly 2 weeks left until Christmas, (-____-”) . That said, today I was passively listening “Santa, Come Straight to the Ghetto” by James Brown until the lyrics suddenly struck me. I then noticed acute desperation in his plea to Ol’ St. Nicolas to treat the children of the ghetto with more priority on this one special day as it is very rarely done to them. (Surely this revelation occurred due to the fact that I’m slightly more mature and aware than, you know, when I was biting ankles.) The difficulties of children growing in underprivileged or impoverished areas are many and should not be taken lightly; and yet, they are—not just by those outside of and unaware of these communities, but even those residing in them. Perhaps this is the case due to lack of knowledge of the factors of their conditions. So…do you mind being educated one time today?

According to the research of sociologist Linda M. Burton, there are three discontinuities that minority children and adolescents of low-income urban communities very commonly observe and exhibit: condensed-age hierarchies (i.e. age difference between the child and parent is 17 years or less), inconsistent role expectations (i.e. in school student must be an obedient child, but at home student must be an effective and responsible adult), and accelerated life course (i.e. adolescence is nonexistent as adulthood is assumed immediately following childhood, and middle-life is considered late adulthood because examples of differentiation between the two very rarely exist). Such conditions exist more prevalently in low-income communities of ethnic minorities, primarily African-American and Hispanic. (NOTE: Adolescence, as stated before, is the time when the most development in the human body and psyche occurs, and it is also the period for which exploration of the self should happen without compromise; thus, imagine what it must feel like for these youth to never partake in that right.)

It is foolish to assume that children of these environments value the standard definition of “the good life” when few observable, tangible examples of it—or the process of attaining “the good life”—exist. However, it is duty of those with better circumstances not only to be conscientious of these children, but to also act pro their enrichment. #2Times

- Brandon Avery