High School is the time of everyone's life that seems so important and life-altering at the time, and later turns out to hardly matter in the long run anyway. Some spend the time discovering their insecurities and taking others down to compensate. Others partied and enjoyed an enormous friend group. But, whether you loved it or hated it, everyone was relieved on graduation day.
Hindsight vision is always 20/20. Looking back, everyone could have done something differently to improve their current status. Whether it's that all-nighter you pulled before the test, a bad party choice, or that significant other we all try to pretend didn't exist, everybody wishes things would have gone a different way.
Things that I would do over again, and differently, came up in casual conversation between my friends and I this past week, and it turns out, I wasn't the only one. Here are the 10 most outstanding and important things I found:
1. Ease up on the class load.
In high school, the pressure is on to build a stellar resume for future colleges. Turns out, the workload doesn't even matter! Universities typically favor higher GPA's and class ranking than to see you tried in AP U.S. History and got a C.
2. Enjoy the snow days more.
Living in Northwest Ohio, you think the sub-zero temperatures or blowing snow would get to the administration of the college. Nope.
3. Care less about what everyone thought.
Because, honestly, you won't see any of them beyond graduation, so who cares what they think of you?
4. Appreciate living at home.
Sure, that curfew seemed a little unfair at the time, but it's a fair trade off for home cooked meals, free room & board and having mom and dad ready to help at a moment's notice.
5. Don't fret over "life-changing" decisions.
The OGT wasn't the most important test of your life and everyone changes their career choice at least once in college.
6. Take full advantage of post-secondary.
Post-Secondary was a great opportunity to knock out those tedious Gen-Ed classes that are ever so fun in college. Not only will it save you a potential eight a.m., but it could save you tens of thousands of dollars.
7. Savor the opportunity of being an athlete more.
Football was everything in high school and I certainly did not take it for granted. But there was always room to appreciate it more.
8. Take the ACT five more times (maybe 10).
Sitting locked up in a room for four hours at seven in the morning on a Saturday sure sucks in the moment. But those hours will save you massive amounts of money in the long run. Take the ACT until you get the score you want! Colleges stress this the most of anything.
9. Start working earlier.
Though I started working at age 16, I would have gone back and gotten a job earlier, even if it was during the summer. Every penny counts!
10. Establish better eating habits.
All of the warnings my parents gave to me in high school about "eating better, because one day you won't have an athlete's metabolism." Well, they were right. A college student eats what's cheap, and that is usually bad for you.
11. Slow down.
High school moves by faster than you think. Nobody really realizes how much easier it was until it is gone. Probably the most important thing to re-do differently in high school would be to slow down for a second and just live in the moment. Life doesn't slow down from there.
