Standard Issue: What Young Men Should Know Concerning Coming of Age

by Eric Smith

The teenage years are some of the most challenging and defining for a young man. As if wading through copious fields of expectations to fit in, excel, and prepare for life aren’t enough, each young man must fulfill this phase on a social stage with a changing body that is anything but private, predictable, or forgiving. It’s during these times of drudgery that thoughts of abandonment, loneliness, and hopelessness can envelope a young man’s mind. “Standard Issue” guides young men through the most impactful trials and towards mission preparation, assuring them there is an end, better things awaiting, and most especially that someone was there and just as awkward. What I craved most during my time as a teenage gargoyle was a companion that shared or understood my pressures and ailments. “Standard Issue” is that friend.

41 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 28, 2012

About the author

Eric Smith was born the fifth of six children. He served a full-time English-speaking mission from 2000-2002 in what was then the Illinois Chicago North Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He studied English and earth science education in Rexburg, Idaho, at BYU-Idaho, particularly enjoying and excelling in geology, editing, and English and early-American literature. He earned his teaching certificate and a bachelor of science degree in 2007. He enjoys writing imaginative, critical, and biographical pieces. Some of his favorite books include "The Count of Monte Cristo" and "The Picture of Dorian Gray." In addition to writing and speaking, Eric enjoys tech, superhero lore, folf, firearms, and film, particularly those made by Christopher Nolan and those starring Jimmy Stewart.