Hi, I was/am a late bloomer in 9th grade i got testosterone shots to help me hit puberty, I’m a senior now, and well, I was wondering a few things.
1.Is there any advantage to my situation, I still have not finished maturing as i have minimal underarm hair and I have sufferd athletically because even though i lifted more and looked bigger the kids where just stronger.
Is there anything i can do that might make the best out of this situation.
thats about it, I am kinda downtrodden, there where several times where i lost cuz the kid was just more mature, my sport is wrestling and its over now so i am looking for some type of positive to this situation. I am 17
Remind yourself that you will one day have the sort of physical development that you want if you continue to pursue it.
Know that high school, no matter what popular culture tries to tell you, is not the pinnacle of life. There are far greater satisfactions in life than those of a positive puberty and high school experience. There are millions of people who were “nobodies” in high school who went on to become somebodies later in life, when being somebody matters more and has greater and more enduring rewards.
I’m not going to tell you just to buck up and blow this disappointment off; your situation is genuinely painful and disappointing. I still sting sometimes when I think about high school (and I’m 36 now). I’m sorry you’ve had to suffer through puberty and hope the experience hasn’t permanently scarred you. But everyone has has his cross to bear and yours has been being a late bloomer in high school. Fortunately, this particular cross does end. Your life will probably improve dramatically over the next few years (the difference between 17 and 21 is greater than you think!) if you continue to apply yourself. Your wife and kids aren’t going to give a rip what you were like in high school and neither will your adulthood friends. In fact, virtually nobody is going to care what you were like in high school, not even your high school classmates! You are in a temporarily painful place; look forward to life being better, because it almost certainly will if you continue making wise decisions.
I think a year from now you will be astonished at how the real world (even college) is much more forgiving than high school. You pick your own friends--and there are more to choose from--and go about your life without being forced to hang out with some incredible jerks. The sort of petty viciousness that passes for normal in high school loses people their jobs in the real world. You'll be surprised at how decent some high school jerks become once being a jerk has real consequences. Plus, alot of jerks just seem to wise up they leave puberty. Guys that give you crap now will probably buy you a beer when you bump into them a few years down the line.
A small consolation that will improve with age: Late bloomers tend to maintain their youthful appearance longer than everyone else, so you can look forward to looking even over a decade younger than your early blooming cohorts when you are over forty. For example, my father was a late bloomer. When my sixth grade classmates first saw my dad, they later asked, “Was that your dad? I thought he was, like, 26!” He was 38. In fact, people were astonished when my dad, this high school kid–he was actually in his early twenties–would introduce his wife! By the way, his wife–my mom–was homecoming queen, so I suppose there is some encouragement for you in that.