Opinion by ElliePeter

Girlhood, as vastly different as it may be, is a universal experience. Whether you like makeup or hate it, hated dressing up or loved
it, played with Barbie or Bratz, girlhood is something all of us girls know.

Looking back at my own childhood, I remember begging my mom for makeup for Christ- mas when I was 12. Sitting there Christmas morning in my candy cane pajamas, I ripped open the striped wrapping paper to unveil the greatest, most valuable thing I had ever held in my own hands.

A makeup palette.

Not just any makeup palette. A sparkly pink one filled with squares of lip gloss and sticky eye shadow. Bright purple eye- shadow and blue lip gloss is not the look our 12-year-old minds thought it was, by the way.

Girlhood of the past wasn’t only ugly makeup. It was also messy pigtails with sun bleached hair, cut off jean shorts and your dad’s T-shirt. Nothing was higher fashion than a dress with a black velvet top and plaid skirt. Bonus points if there was a bow.

Our “designer” took shape in Justice, a store in the mall with decorations bright enough to give you a headache. I had a pair of leggings from there that said “softball.” I have never played softball in my life. But that didn’t matter, because it still said “Justice.”

Like everything else, girlhood matures and evolves with age. Now, my friends and I have left the sticky makeup palettes in

the past. The love for makeup hasn’t disappeared though, only matured. Now we do our makeup packed into a little bathroom while sharing Starbucks and gossiping.

Makeup isn’t the only thing that’s grown up with us. Girlhood, no matter what age is jumping on a trampoline with a sprinkler under it. It was that then, and still is now. Although now it comes with music blasting and windows down.

Now it’s shopping in the mall by yourself and calling your friends for comfort. It’s homework in a Panera and making dinner with your friends. Girlhood is asking “what are
we wearing?” and canceling plans because you have work. It’s sitting with messy hair on a summer morning talking to your friends after a sleepover and sharing playlists.

Girlhood is feeling your eyes tear up because you’re leaving for college soon, whether next year or in the next four years. It’s sharing heels because your best friend has a pair that matches your prom dress. Girlhood is pigtails evolving into curls and still keeping your dad’s T-shirt on hand.

Girlhood, while it may have more pros, still holds its fair share of cons. Simple things like running out of pocket money or bad period cramps. There’s also more serious things, though. The knowledge that you’re about to enter a world that doesn’t always have your best interest in mind, and the fact that life won’t just

be a part time-job and you’ll have less and less time to cram yourself into a bathroom and do your makeup with your friends.

Although I haven’t made it there yet, I’m sure womanhood has as
much to offer as girlhood, just in different ways.

It will be decorating your first house, Sunday brunch with your old girlfriends, and finally splurging on whatever expensive thing you’ve had your eye on since you got your big girl job.

Although it seems to be quicker than a blink of an eye, girlhood is forever. I will forever be a teenage girl, no matter how old I am or how far I make it in life. My experiences and yours will shape us into who- ever we are meant to be, and the memories of that sparkle makeup palette with sticky blue eyeshadow will live forever.

Growing up as a girl offers many different ways to make memories, whether it’s good or bad. There are some universal experiences that come with it and some unique to yourself. Experiences change overtime, but the feeling of girlhood never leaves.