As a junior in high school I’ve learned a lot since my freshman year. One, high school is overrated. All the classic high school rom-coms you’ve seen since you were eight years old, sitting on the couch with a handful of popcorn in one hand, and the TV remote in the other. But, high school isn’t all about cliques and popularity, it’s about surrounding yourself with people you have grown up with since you were toddlers, running around naked on a hot summer day by the kiddy pool. Or being the new kid and discovering new friends that you’ll have for the rest of your life.
Two, high school may seem stressful now, but when we all move on to our different paths, whether that is college or straight to work, it’s going to get a lot more complicated.
Three, high school goes by with a blink of an eye. You’ll watch an old TV show, maybe one you watched a couple years ago, and you’ll think back to the times when you and you’re closest friends at the time used to binge watch every episode in the play room. You’ll start to remember all the conversations, laughs, tears, and you’ll wish you hadn’t taken those moments for granted. Because all of those laughs and tears made you into the person you are today.
Now as a junior, looking and visiting colleges, taking the SATS, and working hard to get good grades has been consuming. We had it easy a couple years ago and we did not even realize it, but now nostalgia starts to kick in and there is nothing more you would like to do but go back.
Some of your friends may be going through the recruiting process right now, debating on what college they want to go to, and even getting accepted. The most terrifying part about that is that they have already got their lives planned out for the next four years after high school, and although you’re happy for them because all of their hard work has paid off, you can’t help but feel melancholy because you don’t know what you’re going to want for dinner tonight, let alone for the next four years. It’s scary and terrifying but it’s a part of growing up.
Getting older is easy, but growing up and deciding what is best for yourself is incredibly hard. So, even if you hate high school right now and would like nothing more than to leave, think back to all that high school has done for you.
You’ve made your closest friends here, all of your fellow classmates that you’ll remember, and all the memories you’ll keep with you until you’re old and married with children, working a boring job in the suburbs.
High school is not the best time of your life, but the memories that came along with it will be cherished with you forever.