Dear high school students,
Whether you're a freshman or a senior, have your college plans settled or don't even remember what day it is, I'm writing from the perspective of someone who may be a potential future you: a college student.
It's the pivotal time of year where summer is in sight, we can taste freedom. For me and my classmates, this just means the last chance to get our grades to where we want them before plunging into the abyss of final examinations. Then begins the summer of internships and job-hunting, and maybe a nap if I'm lucky. I long for the days when I could dance out of school on that last day and know I had the whole summer to relax.
A friend of mine recently told me that she can't wait to get to college and experience the freedom I have, to escape the drama of high school. I realized that, despite college being possibly the most stressful time of my life, it really put some things into perspective for me.
In high school, we believe we're in our most important phase of life. Our friends, social status, grades, and all the features of being a high school student are what will determine the rest of our life. We're convinced of this. But allow me a bit of wisdom from someone who believed the same thing.
None of it matters.
The people you say are your lifelong best friends now probably won't even have your number in a couple years. I talk to maybe 2 people I went to high school with now, and I had a large group of friends. You may say this is wrong, nothing could tear you and your besties apart, but really, give it a few years. It's normal, you graduate and leave home, and make new friends. Your high school friends probably won't last two years, though perhaps you'll be one of the lucky few.
The drama you're concerned with right now? Again, doesn't matter. The moment you leave those halls for the last time, everything that ever happened that caused any kind of social stir, will be irrelevant. No one will care if you kissed someone you regret, no one will care about lewd rumors, relationship drama, or bathroom fights. This isn't to make light of some issues that can take hold in high school, like mental disorders that last through life, I'm talking about the issues you think are a big deal that will dissolve after graduation.
Your grades may be important through your educational life, but in high school all you need is to get into college, then no one will care what your GPA was. You're spending nights up crying over a C that you got on a quiz? Wait til you're up all night panicking over a B that may determine your entire future and acceptance into grad school.
Everything may seem super important to you right now, but I promise you once you take off your cap and gown it will all become irrelevant. You will start fresh, make new friends and find new struggles to deal with. But for now, enjoy your free education and summer breaks. Don't let some crap a friend said cause you grief, you won't remember their names in a few years anyway.
My best advice to you is allow yourself to enjoy what you can. You don't have to hinge your entire future on a test yet, and you don't have to deal with things like rent or $45,000 tuition. Work hard, play sports, read a book, do what you enjoy. I swear to you, the drama, that guy, that friend, and that C will mean less than nothing in a few years.
Don't waste your precious self stressing about things that, very soon, won't matter.
