That Girl from Derwent dwells on the value of religion this Christmas.
That Girl from Derwent has learned a few more things about prejudice since moving up North.
That Girl From Derwent reckons if you're going to be offensive, you should find a better reason.
That Girl from Derwent considers why it is that some words have wider implications than others.
I regret my misspent youth.
I regret the years of my life I ruined that I will never get back and never have a chance to relive or do differently. Yes, many people have this regret, I’m sure. The drunken, drug-fuelled house parties a distant memory, too many to remember individually, so they all blur into two or three years of foggy hangovers. The failed exams because they all seemed so unimportant at the time, despite advice from parents and teachers; the countless boyfriends, first loves, heartbreak… It seemed so important at the time, but looking back now, I’m sure there are many people who wish they had spent their teenage years differently.
But the real reason I regret my teenage years was because I didn’t do this. Any of it. I was that kid who never went out, who spent Monday morning in English lessons listening to everyone else’s tales of the weekend. I convinced myself that I was happy like this, that I wasn’t the going out type anyway; but in reality I think I regretted my teenage years before they were even over - but didn’t do anything to change it even then.
Being a May baby, I didn’t even go out properly once I turned eighteen. A Level exams ensued, and it was a good couple of months before my first proper drunk night out. The truth is, I’d never been to a music concert until 2 days before my 18th birthday, and even that was McFly - hardly the cutting edge of up and coming music. I’ve also never been to a music festival, something that is considered a crime in most middle class adolescent/university circles. Not that I didn’t want to, just that I never did want to enough to actually do it. I’d never been in a proper relationship until I came to uni. Yes I have the grades, the qualifications, the CV. But I don’t have the life experience that most people my age have. I can’t even handle my drink, because I barely touched alcohol before university.
I am jealous when I hear about everyone else’s teenage misdemeanours: first sexual encounters, gigs, going out getting drunk every Friday night after school, sneaking into clubs underage using fake ID… and whilst the idea of sharing a bottle of vodka between eight, sitting on a park bench in the freezing cold isn’t particularly appealing, I can’t help but feel that it is a teenage rite of passage that I have missed out on.
I can’t explain why I was like this. My parents were not particularly strict, no more so than anyone else’s, and yet I felt more of a duty to obey them than most of my friends seemed to. Perhaps because I am an only child, there was no one before to make the mistakes first, and no one after me to learn from them.
So yes, to a large extent I do regret my own misspent youth – but not to the extent that I would change it. I know that I wouldn’t be where I am today had I gone out partying every night whilst I was at school.
I’ve more than made up for it since I’ve been at university.
'Life experience' doesn't have to equal drugs, alcohol, sex or music festivals. If you value different things, then accept that and reflect on how those things shaped you and gave you 'life experience.' And if you've made up for it now at uni, then you really haven't missed out on anything. So I really wouldn't regret anything if I were you.
'Life experience' doesn't have to equal drugs, alcohol, sex or music
It should, though 
Mine certainly did. But then I grew up, so whether it should have done is another matter. Horses for courses. If everyone was an unabashed hedonist the world would be unbearable. Being relaxed, happy, healthy, in love, useful and well-paid is pretty recommendable. The writer should chill...competitive drink and drug bores that are keen to tell the world what a great time they are having are usually disguising sadness and inadequacy.
I really enjoyed reading this, and I think it relates to far more people than you perhaps think. There's never an action that doesn't have a consequence and you are right in the sense that you can't blag your way into university on the back of three million hangovers! I think perhaps the greatest regret of what you might call your 'mispent youth' is constantly trying to do the right thing, which at times can be the hardest thing in the world. The problem is, until you come to uni you don't realise that doing 'the right thing' isn't always the best way, and maybe that's where the regret is here.
Let me get this straight: you regret that you *weren't* a slutty underage drunk?
I'll let you in on a secret - growing up means you stop caring what other people think. It's quite liberating. Comments from others about being a 'lightweight' who can't handle drink stop being embarrassing and just reveal their own hang-ups. Just relax and have whatever kind of lifestyle you're comfortable with.
To paraphrase Felix Dennis, you can't shame someone who just doesn't care.
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