I 'm a teenager, and proud of it.

I fit into that group of people just old enough to feel mature - and feel like we can finally start to make a contribution - yet still young enough to enjoy life, and simply enjoy living.

We're in-between being children and adults, continuing to retain that enthusiasm and energy that characterizes all little kids, or so it seems, yet still knowing enough to be able to direct and channel that energy into something positive.

I'm happy to be a teenager.

I hear students complaining about having exams. You don't think there's going to be tests later on in life, whether they be academic or not? Life only gets tougher from here on in. Every day I live, I'm one day closer to having to work every single day of my life. So I want to enjoy being a teenager while I still can.

We're a quirky group, something special, something hard to define. Us teenagers, we refuse to fit into any sort of category.

Yet as diverse as we all are, something about being a teenager bonds us together. Too many times to count, I've joined a group at the start of the day, where no one knows any one else, yet by the end of the day, I feel like I've known them my whole life.

Teenagers have a special ability to bond together like no other group does. Maybe our diversity is, in fact, what keeps us together.

My identity has shifted numerous times, so subtle alterations to connect with another teenager aren't that hard. I'm many things to many people, whether it's a smart guy whom they study with, or that jock who never seems to be serious, or simply a friend that they know and like.

And each of us has that innate ability to find which parts of our personalities to maximize in order to best connect with our peers. Because we haven't really found out who and what we really are, trying to discover that inevitably means that we will go through changes in our personalities, so another change isn't something that we find difficult or challenging.

One of the best experiences of my life was when I went to Ottawa and met up with teenagers from all across the country.

There were about 120 students there, and most of them knew no one else. Yet by the end of the week, having spent just seven days together, some were crying when it was time to leave. In such a short time, we had formed such strong bonds.

There are countless examples of this, from my own personal experience and from talking to others. Starting new schools, joining new clubs and teams - being a teenager means you have to be able to build relationships, and quickly.

Perhaps the reason teenagers can bond so quickly may not be our differences, but our similarities. Most of us have had similar experiences, going through school, disliking some teachers while loving others, getting in trouble with our parents, the fun times we have with our friends - so it means we have things that we can relate to.

We simply haven't lived long enough for our life paths to really vary a lot.

So perhaps, the real strength in being a teenager lies in our age. Simply put, we're in the middle.

We're different enough to be individuals - people with our own thoughts, morals and beliefs - yet similar enough to be able to relate to each other easily.

I said it at the beginning, and I'll say it at the end. I'm proud to be a teenager. What makes us different isn't that we are tougher or meaner or any of the other prejudices people have; it's just that we're all still trying to figure out exactly who we really are.

Andrew Chang is a Grade 11 student at Gleneagle Secondary.