High school is the place where you either stand out or fit in. You may have many friends and you may be a loner. Everyone knew who you were, what kind of car you drove, where you lived, and who you hung out with. But guess what? The reality is that no one in college is going to care about who you were in high school.
No one cares if you were the Queen B in high school or if you were an outcast. College is the place to start over and figure yourself out. But before you move in to start your new chapter, I understand that you graduates are most likely feeling depressed that you're entering the real world.
I know that you're going to miss feeling close to your friends, having a car to drive, and your parents always cleaning up your mess. Also, it is completely normal to be depressed and be afraid of the unknown. But I'm here to tell you that you should be excited about your new journey in college and let me tell you, once you finish just ONE year of college, you're going to forget about high school. In fact, you'll miss college more.
After I graduated high school, I was a little sad that my friends and I would be drifting apart. I also had gotten closer to students in my grade that I would never have thought of becoming friends with during my time in high school. I wasn't popular. I was involved in some clubs and even joined sports, but I always kept to myself.
I also had a great group of friends who I still talk to religiously. Towards the end of junior year, I started to appreciate high school a little more by getting more involved, meeting new people, and being close to my teachers. When it was senior year, I had gotten even closer to my peers and I was sad when prom and graduation were at the corner.
To add, I finally picked the school I liked and I joined my class group chat and we all became a family (in fact, that is where I met my college best friends who are pictured above). Even though I was still going to miss my high school friends, I knew that I was going to love my new school.
After graduation, I was sad and I wished that I had done more in high school. I even went to every graduation party that I was invited to and I would hang out with my friends all summer. When college move-in day hit, I was excited but anxious. I knew that I was ready to do it because I was at that age that I wanted a taste of freedom.
My parents also helped me move in and stayed at a hotel for 2 days. However, the fact that they were at a hotel while I was at orientation made me even sadder because I wish I could hang out with them. But let me tell you, I never cried. My mom actually cried in the student center but I didn't. as soon as they left, I was ready to socialize and hang out with my friends that I met from the group chat.
From there, I never wanted to come home or even had a thought about high school. At college, I became more involved, joined clubs, made tons of REAL friends, and even met someone special. Looking back, I don't even know what I was worried about. I still talk to my best friend from high school on the daily, since we have Snapchat streaks to maintain as well as our daily FaceTime gossip.
We even visited each other's schools recently and she blended in so well and loves my school as much as I do! I am always going to thank everything that my high school has done for me, but if I had to choose, I would prefer a college in a heartbeat based on the amazing experience that I had so far. Now that I am going into my junior year of college, I am thankful that I decided to go to an out-of-state school and find myself.
Even though you won't have certain resources in college like how you did in high school, you can still build a relationship with your college professors (which helped me get really good grades in school), join clubs and organizations, make new friends, and go out more. And I hope you high school graduates look forward to starting something new. You're going to be saying the same thing I am!
