Maturity

“Look at how mature Khalid is”, “Why can’t you be as mature as Amira?” We often hear sentences like this on a day to day basis, leading to the word “mature” becoming a very common word in each of our vocabularies. But, what does it actually mean? For every single one of us, it means something different. If one were to look it up in the nearest dictionary, they would find that it is defined as “full development”. Full development of what, one may ask? This leads to different types of maturity branching out; physical, emotional and social, each with its own definition. Physical maturity is perhaps the most obvious type. At a certain stage in every person’s life, they will suddenly experience sudden changes that lead to them blossoming into an adult body. For girls, to their dismay, they instantly struggle with a fuller filler and experience menstrual cycles. For boys, they start to loom over us in what seems to be extraordinary height and their voices transform into something that resembles Darth Vader. Also, in girls, it has been found that certain parts of their brain mature faster than boys, leading to them becoming more responsible at an earlier age. On the other hand, emotional immaturity has nothing to do with age but more with how one reacts to and handles certain everyday situations. Khalid and Alia arrive to university fresh on Sunday morning only to hear that their midterm grades are being handed out. Khalid and Alia both find out that they got a C+, they sit down and complain for a while until Khalid gets up to go to class. Khalid then makes a resolution to work hard and ace his next exam. He finishes class an hour later only to find Alia in a worse mood, on the phone with her friend still sulking and complaining that she’s being victimized by the teacher. In the face of an obstacle, Khalid showed flexibility and determination to do better, while Alia showed hopelessness. Being able to handle life's ups and downs without overreacting is a symbol of