Maturity In Raymond's Run, By Tina Cade Bambara

As we grow older, we learn new things, whether about others or about ourselves. We become more mature and do things to better ourselves as a person. Maturity is not measured by age, however. It is measured by how you react to given situations. Raymond’s Run, by Tina Cade Bambara is a prime example of growing maturity. Hazel Elizabeth Deborah Parker, better known as Squeaky, gains maturity by realizing there are bigger things in life than running and herself by helping Raymond succeed as a runner. As Andy Mastay says, “Maturity knows no age. It is a concept that can only become a reality when one completely relinquishes their childhood tendencies and fully embraces the ideals valued by those already matured.” I interpret this quote as saying to mature you must conform to those who have already matured. You must stop

She does so by realizing that she can take up other activities, but that Raymond could be a great runner. She wants him to achieve his maximum potential. She knows that Raymond could finally do something great, so she decides to jump at this opportunity. She also puts aside the mindset that all girls are fake with each other, realizing that girls are capable of being real with each other. Will Ferrell once said “Immature is a word boring people use to describe fun people.” This quote is trying to say that to be fun you need to be immature, which is not the case. Sometimes immaturity is just immaturity. We have to learn from this immaturity to become a greater person. If we never learn from our mistakes, we can not grow as a person and we will just keep repeating the same mistakes. We grow and mature as life goes on, some people just take a little longer than others. However, Squeaky started at a relatively young age, taking the steps she needed to take to become a better, more mature person for the sake of her