I’m already almost done with my second year of college and every now and then, I reminisce about the good ‘ol high school days when all was really unknown to me and I definitely felt like I had no specific direction or calling—who does?
As much as I would love to remember every single detail, much has lost from my memory, but a lot of the good and the bad things that happened to me still linger around in my brain and I wince at the thought of how embarrassing or ill-founded I was at one point in time. The reassuring part is that I am more aware of myself and sure of myself, now that I’ve had a chance to experience college with a direction in mind, not that everyone should.
My mentality now has changed so much, I remember stressing so much more about the social pressures of auditioning, looking a specific way, making sure I had the right ACT scores, and all of that sh*t young people go through and I wish I hadn’t obsessed so much over these:
- Literally What I Looked Like Every Day
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For some reason there was a big pressure to dress up every day in high school, I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s felt it. You’re inside for eight hours, so might as well dress up? How does that make sense? Wear comfy learning clothes! No one cares and when you get to college, it’s like a known dress code that all college students can wear literally pajamas to class.
- What “Group” I Met With Every Morning
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Every morning at 7:30 before class, I would meet up with a group of friends. Sometimes the whole group would be there, sometimes only a couple people, and sometimes I was just left to fend for myself and go to class. I don’t know why I got into a habit of just meeting people out front of these very specific lockers, but it stressed me out so much and shouldn’t. Go to class!
- Gym
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I’m being honest here when I say that I miss gym class. Not really the pacer tests, but the break you get in the middle of the day that motivates you to actually try and be active, social too. I could hang out with my friends and play badminton or dodgeball with them and catch up on gossip. Yeah, the locker rooms and swimming sucked, but overall you don’t get an experience like that every day in college.
- Auditioning for Everything
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I was SO afraid to audition for things during high school. Part of me just wished I had the rigor to go for it. Some things I did have to audition or tryout for, but I hate that I already knew I had no chance among a billion other talented people at my school. Looking back from college, I can’t remember anyone’s auditions or even know why I cared so much about what other people thought about my singing voice. Just go for it honestly.
- If I Had a Car
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My school really was obsessed with parking spots—senior parking spots. So much so, that you basically were considered uncool if you had to ride the bus senior year, which I did. And of course both of my sisters got the car their senior year, but I couldn’t since my older sister had it during college. The perks of being a middle child? Luckily, I had friends who gave me rides most of the time, but if you have to take the bus, who cares. I take public transportation every day in college, you just do what you gotta do to make good things happen.
- “Partying”
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I was not in the high school partying scene, and I am glad I wasn’t. Some girl got expelled because she was caught drunk at a football game. I had a future ahead of me and I wasn’t going to sacrifice it on staying out until 2 a.m. getting batsh*t wasted (illegally) or worrying about who’s dating who. High school is a time to figure yourself out, have fun, but also remember that partying is not everything.
- What College I Was Going to
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My high school posted every single person’s college on a big United States poster in the main foyer of the hallway so that everyone knew where everyone was going. College Decision Day was a big thing too, and we all had to make sure we were getting very high ACT scores. My high school literally pushed us all into college. Not an entirely bad thing, but I’m sure you can picture the amount of stress put on everyone.
I’m in my first choice school and really it wouldn’t be possible if I didn’t wait until a week after I graduated to finally get the go-ahead to enroll with all possible scholarships in place. I got lucky indeed, but I really want to say that everyone’s situation is different and no one should feel inferior or superior for going to a certain school. Whether you plan on going to college or not, everyone is on their own path.
Having this High School Musical theme just worked so well, but not all high school experiences are like a poppy musical where things just eventually fall into place. It can be a very amazing time and a very demandingly discovering one. For those of you graduating, just remember that you will find your place and will be just fine. Don’t follow the status quo!