Hi,
 
Like most people I usually don't post to these silly arguments.  But
being a person who is also young some of the comments have gotten me a
little mad.
 
The person who said she lacked maturity because she didn't wait to find
out whether or not she was accepted is completely wrong.  I know that in
Canada when you go for your test, you wait to find out if you are
accepted and usually the same day you find out, you also find out that
you have two weeks to get all your things in order because you are off
to basic training.  It would have been irresponsible and immature if she
had waited until afterward.
 
An example of this: Before I went to college I had a kitten.  I had a
place lined up to live at who didn't mind that I had a kitten.  Where I
was going to college was at least an 8 hour drive from my home town.  So
all was good right?!  Nope.  I called to find out whom to put the rent
check's name in, and found out that there was a communication problem and
not everyone living there knew that I was going to move in and they gave
my room to someone else.  This was a week before I was supposed to be
there.  So I panicked and my mother pulled some strings and I ended up
moving in with her friend's friend's associate's brother and sister in
law, who didn't want to have any animals because they already had two
cats.  So I had a week to find out what I was going to do with this
kitten!  So some people I babysat for said they would look after her for
awhile - I looked and looked and still wasn't able to find an apartment
(college town) and at the same time tried to find someone who wanted a
kitten.  The people who were looking after her got a lab puppy and it was
really high strung and they were worried it would hurt the kitten, so I
had to find somewhere else!  Eventually my grandparents gave the humane
society $450 dollars as a donation and one of the ladies that volunteered
there adopted the kitten.  I was heartbroken, I always hated people who
surrendered there animals, but I couldn't find anyone who wanted her.  I
put ads in papers, put up signs and ran out of ideas.  That was immature.
I should have had something worked out before hand and I didn't.
 
If anything, Valerie is very mature and responsible and shame on all of
you "older" people who think that all "kids" our age are immature.  It
is stereotypical and I have run across people like you who assume and
no matter what we do or how we act you have it set in your minds that
we are irresponsible and immature and nothing can change that.  I would
doubt it if most of you people who are "bashing" Valerie were in the
same situation wouldn't have done the same thing.  Since you are not,
it is easy to judge.
 
I think that most people would understand Valerie's situation and if she
wanted the ferrets back they would give them back to her.  She has had
them longer and her happiness and the ferrets would be more important to
them then their own as they have only had them a little while.
 
She has made the decision to leave them with their adopted family and
that is also great.  I think that it shows even more maturity since she
has accepted the pain of not having her ferrets and is going to move on.
 
Kudos to Valerie and good luck with your future!
 
Mahlyssa
[Posted in FML issue 4075]