Being 12: The Most Awkward, Essential Year of Our Lives

For a lot of American adults, age 12 is probably just one more moment in the extended blur that is adolescence, located smack dab in the middle of those forgettable middle school years. 

We're here to argue that 12 is in fact pretty special, especially if you're a New Yorker. This is the moment when many students are commuting to school alone, navigating the city by themselves. At school, they're juggling assignments and expectations, preparing for high school. Their minds are expanding dramatically, their bodies are beginning to morph. Social life is getting messy.

"It’s difficult because you’re learning all these responsibilities for the first time," said Noah Shippey, a 12-year-old at Brooklyn Prospect Charter School. "And none of this has really happened before. Adults, they do that all the time and it's easy because they’ve done it a lot. But we’re just starting."

 Nawal Montaser, a classmate at Brooklyn Prospect, said this year has been edifying.

She started wearing the hijab, a head scarf for observant Muslim women. Choosing to wear it wasn't difficult for Nawal but, like any girl her age, she was worried what her friends would say. That first day at school was terrifying.

"They were so kind and I felt so loved," she said of her friends."And I really realized who the real people in my life are."