Teenage Dream My

My name is Lez!

If I were to summarise, being a teen in Botswana is just… confusing. Between navigating parent-teen dynamics to establishing your sense of self while everyone is just as clueless ei bathong, it’s stressful to say the least. On a personal level, I struggled with my confidence, which is ironic because I will jump and leap at any opportunity to succeed, so knowing that I am capable yet somehow doubting myself was a theme in my life for a long LONG time. With time and counselling I finally overcame this, although sometimes I get nervous, it is not the same piercing self-doubt I used to feel in my chest.

I am now at a point in my life where I feel I can achieve almost anything, as long as I am willing to learn, envision and work. Which leads me right into today’s topic, the “teenage dream”. What it means (to me) and how I apply it as a concept in my life.

To me, the teenage dream refers to youthful exuberance or bliss, put simply. It is freedom of expression, it is growth and it is self-love. My teenage dream goes beyond temporary pleasures, and speaks to a reality where I live to make the best of memories, to laugh and on the odd occasion to cry. To me, it means to feel and to experience life wholly, with the idea of success motivating me rather than draining me.

The first mark of this dream would be academic success, as someone who feels like they hold their breath all the way up until results are released despite studying endlessly. Mme hela the hallmark of my teenage dream would be successfully completing my degree and any other academic pursuits.

Next would be new memories, whether it is cracking that one inside joke that my friends and I will carry for years to come, or going on our first vacation as “the girls”. My teenage dream entails living in the moment and appreciating the love that I am blessed to have around me.

Thirdly, I spoke of self-expression that, to me, means taking risks. Ha ele gore it means sending that audition tape or finally standing in front of a crowd again. The teenage dream for you, could mean signing up for the talent show and getting a standing ovation. Ultimately, I believe that each time you put yourself out there

YOU are living the dream.

Self-love and self respect come to mind when I think about the teenage dream. Defining your sures and shapos can assist with this, as it sort of lays the foundation for you to really envision and outline what THAT version of you looks like, the one who is even more confident, who knows how beautiful she is, who knows that she is still growing and can only get better from here.

“The now” this brings me to my last point, that the teenage dream, is your present life, whether it is slow paced or full of drama, your days in school uniform, basking in the sun o emetse combi these all form part of your story, your ice-pop melting before you get to bite into it, sengwe le sengwe that to me, is the real dream.

So tell me SKY family, what is your teenage dream?

My DMs are open but most importantly so are SKY’s, you can find us online @skygirlsbw to let us know your thoughts.

The entire surface of your skin is replaced every month, which put another way means you have about 1,000 different skins in your life!

19 Year Old

Naomi says:

Environment Builds You

Our environment is capable of influencing us one way or the other, but only to the extent you give it the opportunity to. You can allow your environment to destroy you or

Being Your Own Role Model

One has to emphasize the importance of accountability. It's important for a teen to reaffirm the greatness they pose and their limitless capabilities about themselves and with the necessary support or guidance we have the ability

16 year old Tshepo

Self Control

As a teenager you need to have self control, to know what you want and don't want as this helps you become true to

There is no person who can live without a dream. Having a dream not only helps you to go forward and to move with the fashion of the world, but to also be part of society.

Plans And Vision

Be a teenager who sits down and thinks about her life and tells herself “I want to improve here in my academics” or I want to open a group which will help SKY girls on how to reach a certain level of excellence and just make visions that will motivate you and that are reachable.

17 year old Kesaobaka says:

GETTING TO ACHIEVE MY DESIRED GOALS

My teenage dream has been to reach greater heights ever since I was young. This has helped me to strive for the best. I made a decision to persevere in my studies. I started to revise extra hard at school and at home with the help of my teachers, parents and some revision material. It's my dream as a teen to further my studies and now I'm going to high school.

Embrace Your Mistakes

Hee! What a challenge it is to own up to one's mistakes but in order to attain my teenage dream I had to own them. When I was doing JCE last year I would get a drop in my studies and I realized that I wasn't doing something right but I learnt that "the greatest mistake I can make is not making a change. I changed my study schedule to studying early in the morning from 3am and so forth and learning to

Breakout Of Your Shell

My teenage dream can be all about knowing that life is an adventure, everyday I get to learn new things that impact a positive change in my life. I got to be bold and courageous doing grade 6 after trying debate and pageantry which made me love myself and improve even more and also remember that I have a purpose in life .

Confidence

Nothing is better than that feeling you get when you stand up for yourself. You just feel like a boss lady. Don’t care about what people think about you, especially those who judge you for being you. You should learn to support yourself and your rights as a girl child. Most people think girls are meant to be nothing but housewives. But girls are going to prove them wrong. We will be one of the future leaders of this country because we believe in ourselves.

Healthy Skin

Girls if you don't have acne then you are living the best teenage life. No girl in this world likes having acne. It just ruins our skin and brings your confidence down. But girls don't worry if you have acne. Having acne is normal. Try some self care tips and some will work but even if they don't work it's still fine. Just continue living life to the fullest and happiness shall follow. Remember that you are beautiful just the way you are.

Fashion

This is what builds the best teenage experience. We girls love Fashion! At least some of us if not all. If we could get access to all those expensive clothes we would all run for that opportunity. Like those Louis Vuitton and Chanel clothes, shoes, perfumes etc . You are living the life if you have access to all this. Someday we will be able to buy all of the expensive clothes we set our eyes on just work hard and shall reach that goal of yours and be able to buy absolutely anything you want.

19-year-old Rendani Gouwe says:

The teenage dream. First off, you gotta ask what a dream is. A hope? An inspiration? An aspiration? I mean as a teenager, we are either dreaming of being Tiktok famous or rich, of getting good grades and achieving our goals. It is teenagehood that is the path to our future. My teenage dream is to feel better and to do good. My dream is to be kind as I know I have made a lot of mistakes in my life but I want to do better. I want to improve my mental health, I want to feel good about myself. I aspire to feel free. I dream to be helpful, I dream to be a better friend, a better sister, a better daughter. I dream to be a teenager I can be proud of, one my family can be proud of, a teenager that can teach the world different things. I dream to do good and to feel good.

16 year old Oabile Pilane says:

GOOD MENTAL HEALTH

Spending time alone creates self awareness and you learn to be true to yourself. And find time to practice self care because it will leave you relaxed and at peace. Lastly, don’t allow negativity to bring you down. Take care of yourself boo!

Self Love

Having self love lets you know you’re beautiful, unique, precious and worthy.You are the first and last YOU. Self love is also a reflection of how people should treat you because it is when you love and respect yourself and set firm boundaries that people will reciprocate the same energy.

Trying Out New Things

Babes, don’t let your life revolve around just one thing! Be versatile, relatable and sociable! Participate in extracurricular activities because it will open you to many parts of yourself that you didn’t know existed. You’ll also discover your talents and gifts and be able to develop them.

On average you fart enough in one day to fill a party balloon.

Have you ever heard of fast fashion? The fashion industry used to have just 2 fashion seasons per year, meaning that there would only be 1-2 collections made by fashion houses per season. These 2 seasons have now evolved into 52 micro seasons. This means that the fashion industry needs to make new collections at least 52 times per year. How on earth do you design, produce and ship clothes by the thousands, 52 times in a year? It’s called fast fashion. Cheap labour, cheap fabric and standardized manufacturing processes in factories. Did you know that textile production contributes more to climate change than international aviation and shipping combined? I won’t bore you with the facts (that’s what Uncle Google is for) but the truth is that all these brands that seem to have new stock every other week, are harming our planet. This is why, I would like to encourage all of us to do this by re-using clothing items and reducing how often you buy clothes.

Do It Yourself!

You can crop any t-shirts that you have to create crop tops, then sew/glue the edge (with fabric glue) for a clean look. It’s pretty easy to cut long skirts and jeans, to make mini-skirts and shorts as well. Tie-dye is available at pharmacies (I know, weird af) and its actually kind of fun to paint your jeans, like we talked about in season 3 of the Mix. Just looking at an item with a new perspective can help you give it new life! You could revamp half of your entire current wardrobe for less than P300 in total.

Layering pieces

It is super easy to get some oversized items, that’s you, I got you! Throw something on top. It could be a belt, a corset, a waistcoat, a cashmere vest, etc. Have fun and go crazy, coming up with a look that suits your style this way. Let’s say that you do like a baggy of a long sleeved shirt or a tank top under an un-buttoned, button-up shirt.

Only 1% of the earth’s water is safe for human consumption.

There are three ways to reuse clothing;

* Swapping/getting clothes from friends and family

* Thrifting (buying second hand clothes)

Now that you know the how and the why, we can go into detail with a few practical tips to.

Mix n’ match

If you have a funky vintage piece from that leaves you stumped when it comes to the styling, this is the way to go. Just pair something new with something old. Get a simple tank top or a simple pair of sneakers then throw on some modern accessories, and bam! You got because you know the chance of someone wearing something similar to you on civics day are slim to none.

Go big or go broke

Some people spend a ton of cash on something basic and ‘trendy’ because they are afraid of explore your style and have fun seeing what makes you feel good. Don’t be that girl. If you like it, wear it! Don’t think too much about what people will say. Feeling comfortable to wear something a little out there is all part of the fun switching up your fashion and slowing down your style. Enjoy looking like you walked right out of 90s movie set or a Destiny Child’s music video. Stay true to yourself.