Bad Age?

"Well, she was just seventeen
You know what I mean
And the way she looked was way beyond compare
So how could I dance with another
When I saw her standing there...

~Lennon, McCartney, I Saw Her Standing There

A milestone in almost everyone's life, the absolute end of childhood.

Your physical form has stabilized, you aren't yet 18 (sort of a quasi-adulthood age in the US) and you should be full of youthful vigor.

A big fish in a small pond, soon to migrate to the uncaring ocean which is The World.

Bitter or sweet, an age unlike any other, and never to be repeated.

For some the best year of their lives.

And those of us with ravaged faces
Lacking in the social graces
Desperately remained at home
Inventing lovers on the phone
Who called to say "come dance with me"
And murmured vague obscenities
It isn't all it seems at seventeen...

~Janis Ian,  At Seventeen

And some never recover.