Can I repeat TY at age 18 due to my unique circumstances

cantthinkofausername1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122129635#Comment_122129635

Well if it's part time job it wouldn't affect adolescence (since you can work at 16 in this country and plenty of 16-17 year olds have part time jobs), another thing that defines adolescence for me is physical appearance since I hope to retain teenage facial features until at least my early to mid 20s due to my past circumstances (I still have teenage facial features and haven't changed much since age 15 but I have grown slightly more facial hair on my chin within the past year but it's not really noticeable since I often shave and still look like a teenager anyway)

witchgirl26

Retaining the facial features is something that can't really be done or prevented to be honest. I know guys who looked in their 30s at 15 & others who still look 15 in their 30s. It's genetics and how well you take care of yourself that influence that. Apart from having cosmetic surgery. There are hormone blockers but most of these are either design to delay puberty (so would need to be taken before it starts) or ones designed to help those who want to transition. Neither easy to get without a huge need case being put forward by medical professionals.

cantthinkofausername1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122137333#Comment_122137333

Your comment reminds me of Luke Littler, he's 17 but he physically looks like a grown ass 35 year old man with a family and mortgage. Just imagine him being in a 5th year or TY Class in school, I bet he'll be mistaken for a teacher lol. Incase you don't know him he's a famous dart player search him up on google

witchgirl26

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122139217#Comment_122139217

Exactly - some people age quicker than others! When I was in school there was a guy in 2nd year with a full blown beard & mustache. Dude was 14 but looked in his late 20's at least! Whereas I was getting ID'd in supermarkets buying a bottle of wine in my late 20's. It's not something you can really control. Well as a guy you can do a little in that generally men who are clean shaven look a little younger longer but that's about all really.

cantthinkofausername1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122140183#Comment_122140183

Sorry if this thread has been inactive for a while but I'm now regularly getting flashbacks of me absolutely doing nothing especially from the beginning/middle of 2022 (when I was 15 even 16), I'm also quite worried about turning 18 next week now that my birthday is approaching, I really feel very old and out of sinc with my chronogical age because of my past circumstances, when I see the number 18 I think of being near the edge of a cliff (as in nearly the end of teenage years)

witchgirl26

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122222023#Comment_122222023

OP you need to stop dwelling on what you did or didn't do 2/3 years ago. God if I looked back at the time I wasted doing nothing as a teenager, I'd be in a bad way. It's what you do as a teen. And you only learn to try to make the most of things as you grow up. I would love to go back to easier days of not having as much responsibility or stress in my life but reality is that I can't & dwelling on it is not going to change what was or let me do anything now.

You really need to get some counselling about this idea that the end of teenage years or 18 is some massive step forward. Realisitically I didn't notice anything from the day before my 20th birthday (when I officially left being a teenager) to the day after. Nothing magical happened. I mean I feel out of sync with my actual age - if someone was to ask me, I'd have to think for a minute before replying because I'd probably auto reply about 5 years younger than I really am. But day to day, that doesn't actually affect how I live my life. Age is just a number that notes how long you've been alive. It doesn't denote anything to do with experience, wisdom, knowledge, feelings etc. You need to stop giving the number all this power over you.

Have you gone to your GP and talked about all this yet as was suggested previously?

cantthinkofausername1

I now have a doctor's appointment scheduled for next week (its for the day after my birthday), I also dont care and mind about what I've ive not done between 2020-beginning of 2022 because I wouldn't want to relive Covid, I also wouldn't want to be aged 14 again (even if Covid didnt happen) either because I was bullied in 2nd year, however I'm starting to get flashbacks from early to mid 2022 of me doing absolutely nothing outside of school due to my autism and being possibly developmentally delayed which is sometimes causing me to get confused what age I am and what year it is

I was still living an isolated covid-like lifestyle in early to mid 2022, the transition to a post-covid lifestyle was gradual starting from March 2022 to now, for example May 2023 (end of TY) for me was vastly different than September 2022 (when I started TY),

witchgirl26

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122230176#Comment_122230176

Yes but my point is, I didn't do any mad afterschool activities at any point during secondary school & it hasn't affected me one bit in my adult life at all. Nor do I have any major regrets about it.

I'll be real with you. I was bullied horribly before starting secondary school. Thankfully went to a school where no one knew me so didn't know about all that so somewhat fresh start. Except I was so lacking in confidence that I made very few friends for the first 4 years of that time. It was only in 5th & 6th year that I came into myself. I didn't do one afterschool activity - no sports, drama, clubs or anything. No interest in them. I read & that was about it. I could wallow in what I missed out on & get caught up in it or I could realise that those things do not define me as a person at all. I didn't start finding the things I enjoyed doing until college. And some not until I was in my mid-20's. That is life. It's not something you need to know now but something that you are constantly learning & evolving.

As for Covid - I do completely empathise as we were all isolated during that time & a lot of it has lingered on just because of the way things have gone.

Genuinely though, & I mean this nicely, you need to stop dwelling on what you haven't done in the past couple of years & look at what you are doing now & what you want to do in the future. Reliving that time is not going to magically change things or make them better. It's not going to stop the effect bullying had on you. It's not going to alter the effect covid isolation had on you. The only thing that will change those is looking forward & trying to address those things in the future as opposed to some do-over button. Because even a do-over will not erase those years.

cantthinkofausername1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122231562#Comment_122231562

Hey there hru, I am now 18 now (my birthday was this week), i did not magically transform into a full grown adult when the clock stroke midnight lol (obviously im now legally one), i was not depressed at all on my birthday, i got a ps5 btw