Hurry Up!
Z.E. McEvoy
Grade 10 English Spoken Word Final 2026
At first, when you are young
Growing up is about making friends for life on your first day of kindergarten
Learning how to write and paint
And you're always excited for what adventures come next
Then you are in grades one to three
You become eager about school,
You are doing science experiments, playing dodgeball in gym and spending every day with your friends
And before you know it you've hit your junior years
School gets a bit more complicated, teachers start treating you more seriously and you can’t wait to be an intermediate
And then you are one
You are living your best life
School can still be fun
You have some more freedom
And you can’t wait until you get to head off to highschool
Grade nine is a breeze
You get classes with old and new friends
You figure out some teachers are actually fun to be around
High school starts to get more serious and everything changes
Your grades are more important than ever
You are worried about university and finding a job
And there is this realization
That you didn’t live a childhood,
You lived hopes
You skipped over the joys of running around in a kindergarten pen because you were focussed on getting out on the big field
You skipped the joys of only playing games with a parachute in gym class because you were focussed on finding your sport
The joys of having a birthday party with your entire class when everyone was friends with everyone before everything got more complicated
The joys of not worrying about what comes next
Because
Someday the hopes become worries
And the worries consume all of you until you get overwhelmed by them all
You grow up wanting to be a grown up,
But the second you actually get close to it you want to turn back the clock
Relive all of it but being present
Not focussed on the future, but enjoying the now
Growing up is about growing up
Until you are a grown up
Then Growing up turns into finding ways to bring back the little kid in yourself
You start to hang out with friends in person again
You go on adventures to new places all around the world
You heal the parts of yourself you broke by looking ahead in life
And just enjoy being where you are, when you are
Note: My daughter wrote this for a school assignment in June of 2026, though she came up with a different piece she used instead I really like it. It is posted here with permission.
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