With Mayo Clinic oncologist Edward T. Creagan, M.D.

Throughout our blog postings most of the concerns have focused on the needs and challenges of us adults. However, there is another segment of the population hardly immune to the stress of our modern culture: our teenagers. So, why are we discussing teen stress now?

The sons and daughters of a number of our close friends and colleagues are soon graduating from high school, and I have had the privilege of meeting some of them to prepare letters of recommendation. Moreover, some college students have spent time in our medical environment to get a sense for medicine as a profession. It is fascinating to hear their stories, their challenges, and their frustrations. Let me outline some of them since their world is different than ours.

• There is an enormous population of young people applying for positions in college and the competition is fierce.
• The options and alternatives for extracurricular activities are mind boggling. In my high school and college years, the options were few. Baseball, basketball, football if one was physically endowed. Today, however, the options are bewildering — swimming, volleyball, gymnastics, dance, band, theater, and the list goes on and on.

So, those of us who have somehow survived life's warfare can offer word of encouragement and understanding to our friends coming up through the system. They need to be focused; they need to have a reasonably clear career path; and they need to cultivate creative thinking and problem solving to prepare them for a world which is changing by the moment.

What can we share with our younger friends coming up through the ranks so that they avoid some of the pitfalls which affected many of us?

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