Shenzhi Xu,
Chengdu, China

Shenzhi is a first-year college student majoring in English.

Photographed by Luxi Yang

Shenzhi at an arcade.

Shenzhi at an arcade.

“Honestly, I don’t think that age is the true indicator of whether a person is an adult or not. Even when I turn 18, I don’t automatically cross into the world of an adult.

What’s something you’d like to learn?

I want to learn taekwondo because it’s really cool.

What’s a place you’ve never been but would like to go?

Russia. I’ve always thought Russia is a mysterious country, so I’ve always wanted to go.

Whom do you go to for advice?

I usually solve problems on my own. If I really can’t solve something, I go to my peers or to a trusted elder.

What’s your favorite quote?

Sorry, I can’t think of a quote when there’s a bowl of spice corned pig hooves in front of me.

Shenzhi swiping through a Chinese dating app.

Mahak Naiwal,
New Delhi, India

Mahak is studying in school and learning Kathak, a traditional Indian dance.

Photographed by Shraddha Gupta

“I want to be like my Kathak teacher, Anu Sen, who inspired many girls to learn Indian classical dance.”

“I would like to study to become a teacher and would like to dance too, side by side.”

Mahak performing puja, a type of prayer, at home. Her family traditions revolve around Hindu festivals, including Diwali and Janmashtami.

Mahak, center, in school. Dance is her passion, but she’s also interested in learning to play the guitar and speak French.

A collection of gifts Mahak received from friends and family.

Mahak rehearsing in her Kathak class.

Ruby Jubb-Baddiel,
London, U.K.

Ruby has a year left of high school and hopes to attend college after. She turns 18 this month.

Photographed by Georgia Canning

Ruby’s makeup, with history notes posted on the wall behind.

Ruby’s makeup, with history notes posted on the wall behind.

Ruby, center, with friends Mia (left) and Megan after class.

Ruby, center, with friends Mia (left) and Megan after class.

When did you first feel like a grown-up?

I remember being able to walk to school on my own and I thought “WOW! I am so independent and cool.”

What is your favorite place to be inside your home?

My bed.

Outside your home?

The beach.

Tell us about a family tradition.

It’s not really a tradition, but my dad and his family have made-up words. I genuinely, until, like, 11, thought they were real words. Such as “glemsonning,” which means staring into the distance.

What do you want to be doing in five years?

I don’t know ... I want to say the right thing. I’d like to have not a set career but to be doing something I like that I know can go somewhere. Not just end up finishing university and be working as a waitress not really knowing what to do.

“I feel like social media has corrupted our generation a bit. We are meant to be this generation of new hope but it’s all so warped.”

Victory Chukwu,
Lagos, Nigeria

Victory is a first-year student at the University of Lagos. She lives with her mother.

Photographed by Amarachi Chukwuma and Ebunoluwa Osaro Akinbo

Victory, in yellow, at church with her mother.

Victory, in yellow, at church with her mother.

What’s the farthest you’ve been from home?

The headquarters of our church in Ibadan, Oyo State. It takes all day to get there from Yaba, Lagos State, where I live.

Where would you like to visit?

My dream place to visit is Paris. I want to see the Eiffel Tower and eat French food.

If you could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be?

For people alive, I would love to have dinner with Migos. But for the dead it would have to be Whitney Houston.

“Good food and lit friends, that’s my recipe for a healthy life.”

What do you want to be doing in five years?

I would love to run my own business and be a fashion designer.

What do you do when you feel bored?

I listen to music, it keeps me company.

What’s one thing you don’t know how to do that you’d like to learn?

I’d like to learn how to cook some Nigerian soups.

When did you first feel like a grown-up?

I first felt like an adult when I went to the market without my mum and got everything she wanted. It made me feel grown to bargain with the sellers and get the best prices.

Victory and her mother prepare a meal in their kitchen.

Shama Ghosh,
Chandpur, Bangladesh

Shama lives with her husband and his family in a Hindu neighborhood. They were married in April. She hopes to finish high school and become a teacher.

Photographed by Tahia Farhin Haque

“Once a girl is married, she cannot do anything without the permission of her family. If there is anything I want to do now, I have to ask my husband and other family members first.”

“If Ican ever manage to stand on my own feet, then my future would be really bright.”

Liana Sharifian,
Bushehr, Iran

Liana is a singer and a musician. She is among few Iranian women who play the bagpipe (ney-anbān) and recently performed in an all-women concert in Tehran.

Photographed by Atefe Moeini

“I have 20,000 selfies of myself. I love taking pictures.”

Liana and her friend Miad playing music from southern Iran.

What do you like about performing with other women?

I can be my real self. I can play from the bottom of my heart, whereas in men’s concerts you have to be really careful your scarf doesn’t fall off or something like that. And this is the right thing, because this is our society and I have no complaints about it. But I have the constant fear that “oh no, my scarf is about to fall off” even when it’s not, and then believe me, I can’t focus on my instrument.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

I’d really like to know a lot about ney-anbān and I’d like to be one of the best in ney-anbān.

Liana singing a song that she learned while taking music classes in Spain.

Liana singing a song that she learned while taking music classes in Spain.

Obdulia González González,
Zacatecas, Mexico

Obdulia is a member of the indigenous Wixárika people of northern Mexico. She helps her parents sell traditional crafts and hopes to attend college.

Photographed by Jesse Mireles

“I’m proud of my culture and my heritage. I love dressing in a different way and speaking a different beautiful language. For example, in Wixárika language ‘tsineka areuyajuwa’ means ‘I love you.’ ”

What’s something you’d like to learn how to do?

To be able to use a computer better, dance bachata and drive.

When did you first feel like a grown-up?

When I was 15, my mother let me go to my hometown of San Sebastián by myself for the first time. I attended the patron saints festivals. I had to fight for her to let me go because she said I was too young. I was there for the entire duration of the party, which was like three or four days.

What do you want to be doing in five years?

I want to be living right here. I hope to finish high school and be studying in college and work in something other than making crafts all the time.

What’s the most exciting thing about turning 18 this year?

It’s not exciting ... I will be old!

Obdulia’s little sister, Alondra, tickles her.

Obdulia’s little sister, Alondra, tickles her.

Sage Grace Dolan-Sandrino,
Washington, D.C.

Grace is a transgender activist and a student at Bard College in New York. She wants to become a filmmaker.

Photographed by TiKa Wallace

“I love my room, my room is my temple. I brought my tapestries and lights from home to give my dorm the same feel. It’s important that I feel comfortable in my room and able to decompress.”

“I will vote. I will fight for us, all of us. It is a big charge and a big responsibility for our generation. We are going to be loud and recognized and influential.”

Madison Breanne Justice,
Clarksdale, Mississippi

Madison is taking a break from school to work and support her 13-month-old son, Jeremiah. She hopes to complete her G.E.D. and attend college.

Photographed by Yasmine Malone

“I always knew I would have to grow up eventually. I just wasn’t expecting to do it so fast.”

Madison’s priorities have changed since becoming a mother. “My goal is just getting a better job,” she said. “Getting my G.E.D. and trying to get out of here as fast as possible.”

Madison’s priorities have changed since becoming a mother. “My goal is just getting a better job,” she said. “Getting my G.E.D. and trying to get out of here as fast as possible.”

“I love music. My dad’s a musician and I’ve grown up with music.”

What is your favorite place to be?

Moon Lake. On the dock on the lake every day.

What do you do when you feel bored?

When I get bored and Jeremiah’s awake, I go outside and let him play in the pool. When I’m bored and he’s asleep, I love to sketch. Or just sometimes just lay there.

When did you first feel like a grown-up?

I first felt like a grown-up when I was pretty much halfway into my pregnancy, because I realized that everything was about to change.

What is the farthest place you’ve been from home?

The farthest I’ve ever been away from my house is three hours away, in Dyersburg, like right there on the edge of Missouri. I really wish I’d been farther because I would love to see new things. I would love to see a waterfall in my life.

Madison takes a break after work with friends. She works at a coffee shop.

Madison takes a break after work with friends. She works at a coffee shop.

Madison outside her parents’ home. She does not live with them and yearns for more space. “I  would  love  to  see  myself  at  my  own  house,” she said, “even if  it’s  rented.”

Madison outside her parents’ home. She does not live with them and yearns for more space. “I would love to see myself at my own house,” she said, “even if it’s rented.”

“I try to make Jeremiah and me go to the park at least once a week just to get outside and have him play. I love seeing him at the park. He loves the swing.”

“I try to make Jeremiah and me go to the park at least once a week just to get outside and have him play. I love seeing him at the park. He loves the swing.”

Faiza Al-Afifi,
Ramallah, West Bank

Faiza recently graduated from high school and is working at the first aquarium in the West Bank. She has been in Ramallah since 2014, when her family fled the Gaza Strip after its deadly war with Israel. She will attend university in the fall.

Photographed by Leen Awartani

Faiza loves reading. She says it gives her a sense of serenity. When she first moved to Ramallah, she had trouble sleeping — which she said was a residual effect of hearing missiles strike outside her home in Gaza.

Faiza loves reading. She says it gives her a sense of serenity. When she first moved to Ramallah, she had trouble sleeping — which she said was a residual effect of hearing missiles strike outside her home in Gaza.

At the aquarium, Faiza’s job is to photograph visitors for souvenir images. “I take photos and I put backgrounds behind them, like fishes and things,” she said. “It’s really awesome.”

At the aquarium, Faiza’s job is to photograph visitors for souvenir images. “I take photos and I put backgrounds behind them, like fishes and things,” she said. “It’s really awesome.”

“I survived more than three wars. My goal in life now is to be a contributor — to defend basic human rights and to help people in need. This is what I’d like to achieve.”

Millie Landewee,
Melbourne, Australia

Millie is part of an all-girls skate crew called DNL. It stands for “Did Not Land,” a joke about not landing tricks. At night she works as a bartender.

Photographed by Eremaya Albrecht

“I think you need to explore the opportunities around you. Don’t settle for the usual. Try and find who you are within each side street or hole in the wall.”

“I identify as lesbian.”

If you could have dinner with anyone who would it be?

Princess Nokia.

What do you do when you feel bored?

I work on my comic book.

What do you want to be doing in five years?

I want to be studying psychology at university. I want to be moved out, I want to have my life in order.

What worries you about the future?

Women’s rights and women’s safety. The fact that one woman a week is murdered by her current or past partner in Australia — and that all my friends are so afraid to walk home alone — really, really worries me.

Alexandra Yuryeva,
Moscow, Russia

Alexandra lives with her parents and younger sister. She enjoys synchronized swimming, art and physics.

Photographed by Anna Dermicheva

Alexandra recently began playing the balalaika, a traditional Russian string instrument.

Alexandra recently began playing the balalaika, a traditional Russian string instrument.

“There is a village not far from my neighborhood, and between the village and my home there is a road that stretches about three kilometers. Along that road there are fields. Pines grow there. That’s the place where I really like to go for walks. The sky is very beautiful there. When I have nothing else to do in the summer, I explore the area, get on a bicycle and ride to parts unknown.”

What do you want to be doing in five years?

Maybe, after graduating from God-knows-what university, I’d engage in theoretical physics or go for nuclear power engineering. I’d like to develop nuclear plant safety systems so that the Chernobyl disaster never happens again. Maybe in five years my friend and I will open a cartoon studio and I’ll take up a second job as her assistant. Everything is possible.

What are you looking forward to about being 18?

I’m waiting for the time when I can swing on a swing in the courtyard at midnight, and when law enforcement officers come up to me, I’ll just show them my ID and they will leave. [Editor’s note: Russia has a curfew for minors.]

Alexandra’s household chores include making breakfast and taking Varvara, her younger sister, to school.

Alexandra’s household chores include making breakfast and taking Varvara, her younger sister, to school.

Maryclare Chinedo,
Bronx, N.Y.

Maryclare is a first-year student at Brown University. She is studying biochemistry.

Photographed by Julie Lozano

Maryclare, center, poses for a family portrait with her mother, father and siblings.

Maryclare, center, poses for a family portrait with her mother, father and siblings.

Whom do you go to for advice?

I go to my friend Ikenna because I know he won’t judge me.

What do you want to be doing in five years?

I want to have graduated with a STEM degree with a minor in art history. I’ll probably be in my first year of med school.

What do you do when you’re bored?

Netflix, Netflix, Netflix. Right now I’m watching “The Vampire Diaries.” I just finished “The Office.”

What’s one thing you’d like to learn?

I don’t know how to cook. When I was younger I was taught that I have to know how to cook for my husband and children and I don’t really like that. So I just didn’t want to learn how to cook at all. But now I think knowing how to cook is a good thing to have — not for a man or my kids but for myself.

“I first felt like a grown-up when my mom let me go to the after-prom party. My mom doesn’t let me go anywhere, at all. I would never be able to go to the parties my friends invited me to in high school, but she let me go to this one. I guess it’s because she knows that I’m 18 and I’ll be going to college soon.”