On breaks, many college students go back and visit their high school alma matter, catching up with past teachers and students. Although it may be helpful to take some time away from the high school and find yourself some more before going back. It's also nice to check in with those that have helped you get to where you are — your past teachers. Some may be nervous or think teachers won't remember them, but that does not seem like the case. Here are a list of 15 thoughts and circumstances college students may have while going back to visit their old high school.
1. It takes longer to get ready because your style has changed since high school and you actually care about what you wear now -- it’s not just all about the sweatpants. The only problem is that you can’t find the perfect outfit.
2. Driving there, you think about which teachers you really want to see, which ones you want to see, and which ones you want to avoid.
3. When you get there, you walk in with your head held high, ready to show everyone that you’ve grown up and aren’t the same person you were in high school.
4. You first have to sign in and hope the secretaries will let you go see teachers.
5. When you are given permission, you briskly and eagerly walk to the room you could walk to in your sleep if you wanted to — your favorite teacher’s room.
6. When you start catching up with your teachers, you realize how much you missed them and wonder if you’re actually happy to be done with high school or not.
Then you remember you love college.
7. Walking down the hallways and into each classroom, you realize that the majority of things have stayed the same. There may be some different color tiles or images painted on the walls, but there are so many constants it’s almost crazy. Don’t they get sick of the same set up?
8. You pass the cafeteria and take a moment to be thankful for the not-so-great-but-definitely-better-than-the-high-school-cafeteria dining halls.
9. There’s always that cringing moment when you have to walk past your least favorite teacher’s room and pray they don’t see you.
10. As you pass your old locker, you begin to realize how so much of the worries you had in high school, all the times you slammed your locker shut because of a problem or dramatic situation, no longer matter now. You may even laugh to yourself, thinking about how much your priorities have changed. Everything seemed so much more dramatic back then.
11. There’s always that one teacher that awkwardly question what your name is again. Cut them some slack; they have a lot of students!
12. Walking back to your car, you feel proud of yourself because of how much you’ve grown since the times you attended classes in that high school.
13. You smile to yourself at the memories you had in the hallways and realize that yes, you made it through high school. You made it through the completely awkward years, the hurt of losing friends, the fun of gaining new ones, the tests, and the homework. You made it through with some not-so-great memories and some fantastic ones as well.
14. You think back to the friendships that ended after graduation and feel really thankful for the friendships that stayed after high school and through to now.
15. But overall, you're glad you went back. From all of the conversations with old teachers, you realize they really want to be able to look to their graduated students and say, "Congrats. You're making it in this world. You're keeping your head up and keep succeeding." And congratulations, it's true. You're doing it. You're succeeding and by going back to your high school, remembering the teachers who have helped and inspired you along the way.
