Dear Disney,

As a kid, I imagined that becoming a teenager was going to be the pinnacle of all that is good in this world. I was ready for wearing heels in high school, perfect make up, driving, a Honda yet I wear vans, chapstick, and take the train. What a wake up call.

 I swore I would be 5’5 with long legs, big breast. I was wrong. I’m 5’3 with medium breasts, and my life is in shambles. 7 weeks into the quarter, I’m missing 19 assignments but I can only remember 4 at a time. Why does TV sell a perfect “high school experience?” Little girls like myself wake up one day at 4 in the morning and sigh at the fact that this life isn’t what you promised.

 I have failed you, but more importantly, schools have failed you. The music schools? There is no dancing in the lunchroom to music playing in the background. There are no conveniently empty hallways where you and the cutest guy in your school can hold a civil conversation where you make a fool of yourself. Where is the sun? Where are the heels? Why has Disney manipulated us young folk? Where is the flawless skin?  

 All the 5’5 models? Make them 5’3 with chunky stomachs and bloated faces from periods they couldn’t hide. Turn the heels into Nikes because there is no elevator. 5 flights of stairs. All the dancing in the lunchroom and the backyard? Turn the dancing to headphones, bumping during a class you’re already failing. This is starting to sound a lot like my life.

 Honestly, Disney, I just want you to tell it how it is. Show the cramps, the acne, the fast, incurable weight gain, the failing classes, the stress, and poisonous school lunch. Show it all. Disney, not every teen is fit, I know for a fact (I’m on a diet, don’t stress) and it can be really annoying sitting there watching perfect 5’5 20 year old women walk in heels to their loud lunchroom full of music just to eat a salad. You see Disney, high school sucks. The acne, the weight gain, the body odor, the violent perfume, the talkative teachers, the unhelpful teachers, the stairs, the heat, the cold, the lunchroom, the sweaty gym that smells like death, The stairs … the stairs, Disney. Show the pain of high school. This is the hunger games, just vans, and Proactiv, and homework.

Sincerely,

Hannah