Introduction

"IF I HAVE SEEN FURTHER, IT IS BY STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS."
SIR ISAAC NEWTON, IN A LETTER HE WROTE TO FELLOW ENGLISH SCIENTIST ROBERT HOOKE

Wouldn’t it be nice if…….
...there was a book presented to every teenager, titled “Your Teenage Years: A User Manual” This manual would provide guidance and encouragement to young people too old to be kids but too inexperienced to be adults. It would teach them to love and value themselves in a healthy way, tell them to expect and properly manage the inevitable difficulties in relating with teachers and parents and friends, advise them what to focus on, how to manage their time, when to say yes, how to say no……
You get the idea.
But such a book does not exist. We write this book in our memories as we go along.

Who are we?
This book was created and written by teenagers for teenagers. We are teenagers who are old enough to know now things we wish we had known when we were younger. We are teenagers who have pooled some of what experience has taught us to share with other teens and teens-to-be, so that they might gain from our experiences (and mistakes) to live more happy, successful and meaningful teenage lives.
The teenage years should be a time of wonder & self-discovery; a time for building lasting friendships , finding one’s passion & nurturing a sense of purpose, and reaching out to the community to build a better world. Yet too often, there is so much pain and angst. Uncertainty. Unbalance. Focus on things later regretted.

What do we want to achieve?
This modest attempt at a book arose from a desire to help younger students learn from our past experiences and mistakes, enabling them to “stand on our shoulders” and see further than we could in our day. We hope this leads our younger sisters and brothers to get more enjoyment and value from their school days, and ultimately get more out of education.

Where do we go from here?
How we experience our teenage years is really all about what we know and believe. Come and read. Then share. Tell your friends about this resource, comment on our blog, and e-mail us your contributions that we might include in future editions!
On behalf of my fellow contributors to this book, caring friends and wonderful human beings all, we present you this gift of our insights and look forward to your passing them on to others.

Diane Lee Jen Mei
March 2007
http://shoulders2standon.blogspot.com