This is the kind of person I am. I was twelve in eighth grade; now I'm on the verge of twentitwo. It took me a decade to come to this realization. That's not a bad thing; it means I'm still thinking about my early writing, and that we can only expect vast amounts of improvement from future efforts.
But damn, it would've been killer if I'd been able to write an emotional capture story when I was twelve, rather than seeing things as a set of goals to be accomplished and then only seen fleetingly in a rearview mirror.
I amaze even me, and that's all the more amazing because I'm amazing a person who is himself amazing. This is the vicious circle of affirmation and self-worth that stands in opposition to the continual depression you people seem to want to put yourselves into.