As a high schooler, all of our older friends we had that graduated before us and moved off to the magical land called “college” never failed to relay to us how much better this place is rather than high school. Since coming to college myself (which, by the way, wasn’t the magical land I was expecting full of cute, polite boys and free food that wouldn’t make me regret everything after eating it) I, of course, agree that it’s better but also just not comparable. It’s completely different compared to the daily routine we were used to in high school. And when I look back at all the silly rules we had to follow in high school and stupid things I would stress over, I honestly can’t hold back laughter because it all seems so ridiculous now. Here are 10 rules/routines we had in high school that seem so ridiculous in college:

1. Bathroom etiquette. Always raising your hand to ask if you can go to the bathroom is one of those annoying policies, but even more annoying was always having to carry a pass with you. And we all had one of those teachers where you had to say “May I go to the bathroom” instead of “Can I go to the bathroom” because they would make some a**hole comment about your syntax.
2. Not being allowed to go anywhere without a pass. I guess for security reasons it makes sense, but still it seems so ridiculous now that we have the freedom to walk anywhere that we please without being policed by hall monitors or security guards.
3. Having designated lunch periods. I remember my sophomore year I was scheduled to have lunch third period which is around 10:15 a.m., that’s literally earlier than any of my classes this semester.
4. No eating in class. Most of the meals I have at college are in class, whether it’s granola, a cereal bar or whatever I can get my hands on, it’s how I stay fed. It’s a little different in high school since we have designated lunch periods, but if your lunch is at 10 a.m., you don’t get out of school until 3:30 p.m. and you’re not allowed to eat in class, this rule is quite terrible.
5. Detentions. Oh the good old days of being forced to sit in a quiet room with no windows, no talking and, in my detentions, no homework was allowed either. And usually you would get detentions for the simplest things: not having a hall pass, talking in study hall, wearing flip-flops to gym (just me?), etc. I could go on and on about how useless I think detentions are, but I think we’re all on the same page.
6. Having your mom call you out of school. Now our professors just don’t care. And you have to e-mail them yourself because that’s the only way you’ll get the work you missed, unlike in high school when your teachers would hand you everything the next day.
7. Being in school for 8-9 hours every day. I think this is the worst one that I will never miss about high school; being constrained in one building for that long was honestly terrible.
8. Dress codes. Besides being sexist most of the time, I love how you can literally where whatever the hell you want in college without being forced to adhere to your school’s sexist social norms. You can even wear shorts to class without fear of walking in the halls and having your principal pull you to the side and make you put your hands to your side. Crazy, right?
9. Having your counselor make your schedules for you. In college, you do get to pick your own classes, schedule including start times, days, etc. It’s amazing, one of the best luxuries of college.
10. Gym class. In Illinois, high school students have to take gym every day for all four years of high school (apparently this is different in other states). I think it’s great that we do this although still find the whole gym clothes, locker room, running 20 laps around a tiny gym with no air conditioning, a little strange.