TASK 4C — The Weight on My Shoulders

📋 Exam Question

Life skills refers to the ability to understand and influence factors that are important for mastering one's own life. This topic shall help the pupils learn to deal with success and failure, and personal and practical challenges in the best possible way.

Relevant areas within this topic are physical and mental health, lifestyle habits, sexuality and gender, drug abuse, media use and consumption and personal finances.

-Udir.no

Write a literary text where a young person faces challenges related to health and life skills.

Your text must have a clear conflict. Give your text a suitable title.

In your text:

Create your own character(s) living in an English-speaking country.

Explore the challenges they encounter.

Reflect on the strategies they use to overcome the challenges.

✏️ Model Answer

Title: "The Weight on My Shoulders"

Seventeen-year-old Liam Carter lived in a small, windswept town on the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada. Life in Port Haven was simple—fishing boats lined the harbor, neighbors waved at each other, and the biggest attraction in town was a rundown community center with a broken pool table. Liam had lived there all his life. From the outside, he was just a normal high school senior: average grades, a few close friends, and dreams of leaving town for something bigger.

But inside, Liam was struggling.

For months, he had been carrying a weight heavier than any school backpack. His father had lost his job during the pandemic and hadn’t worked since. His mom picked up double shifts at the diner, and Liam, feeling the pressure, took a job at the local grocery store after school. Between work, school, and caring for his younger sister, he barely had time to breathe.

The real conflict, though, was inside his head. Liam couldn’t remember the last time he had felt truly rested. He had constant headaches, couldn’t focus in class, and had started skipping meals. At night, his thoughts raced: What if Mom can’t pay the rent? What if Dad never gets better? What if I fail my exams?

But he told no one. Mental health, especially for guys in Port Haven, was something you were supposed to “tough out.”

One Monday morning, things came crashing down. Liam was called to present a group project in English class. As he stood in front of the whiteboard, his vision blurred, his hands trembled, and before he could say a word, he collapsed.

He woke up in the nurse’s office, pale and confused. The nurse, Ms. Halliday, spoke gently. “Liam, this isn’t just exhaustion. You’re showing signs of burnout and anxiety. You need to take care of yourself.”

At first, Liam laughed it off. “I’m just tired,” he said. But later, sitting on the bench outside the school with the ocean wind in his face, he started to cry.

That evening, Ms. Halliday called his mother. Together, they arranged for Liam to speak to a school counselor. It was during those first few sessions that Liam realized he wasn’t just tired—he was drowning in responsibility, stress, and self-doubt.

With support from the counselor, Liam began to understand the importance of mental health and self-care. He learned breathing exercises for anxiety. He kept a journal where he could write down what he felt—without shame. For the first time, someone had told him it was okay to not be okay.

He also began to look at his lifestyle habits. Skipping meals, drinking energy drinks instead of water, and getting four hours of sleep a night wasn’t helping him cope. With help, he made a plan: regular meals, cutting down on shifts at work, and setting boundaries—something he had never dared to do before.

Still, it wasn’t easy. His father didn’t understand. “You think I had time to whine when I was your age?” he snapped one night when Liam said he was going to drop a work shift to study for exams. But Liam held his ground. “I’m not quitting, Dad. I’m just trying to survive.”

Meanwhile, Liam noticed how much media use had been affecting him too. Scrolling through social media late at night had become a distraction—and a comparison trap. Everyone seemed happier, healthier, more successful. With the counselor’s guidance, he set limits on his screen time. He replaced doom-scrolling with music, walks, and—when he dared—reading poetry.

As Liam’s mental health slowly improved, he also had to confront questions about his identity. For years, he had kept quiet about his sexuality, unsure of how to label himself in a town where such conversations didn’t happen. But now, with a growing sense of confidence, he opened up to his counselor and later to his best friend, Sam.

“I think I’m bi,” he said one evening as they watched the sunset from the pier.

Sam didn’t flinch. “Cool,” he said simply. “Thanks for telling me.”

That moment, small as it was, felt like freedom.

Liam also began learning about personal finances, another life skill he had ignored in the chaos. With help from his math teacher, he created a budget and set goals. He didn’t want to be rich—he just wanted to feel like he had control over his life. For the first time, he felt a sense of direction.

As spring turned to summer, Liam didn’t become a perfect person. He still had bad days. He still worried about money, about his family, about the future. But he had tools now. He knew how to ask for help, how to take care of his body and mind, and how to make choices that were right for him.

His final English project was a spoken word poem about mental health and growing up. He stood in front of his class, no longer shaking.

“I thought strength was silence. I thought pain made me weak.

But healing isn’t weakness—it’s power when you speak.

We all wear masks and say we’re fine,

But some of us are drowning, just waiting for a sign.”

The room was quiet when he finished. Then, slowly, hands began to clap.

Reflection

Liam’s story is fictional, but it reflects the very real challenges that young people face today. As Udir.no highlights, life skills are essential for mastering personal and practical challenges. Liam's journey touches on all of them: mental and physical health, lifestyle habits, sexuality and gender, media use, and personal finances.

More importantly, it shows that life skills can be learned. No one is born knowing how to handle stress, identity, or money. But with support, education, and encouragement, young people like Liam can move from surviving to truly living.