As cheesy and annoying as the title is, it couldn’t be more true. Now that I am an officially a high school graduate, I can take the time to thank the people and lessons that got me there. I chose this title because of the play we did my freshman year; “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten”.

Your story is being written every day, and the chapters are filled with the choices and decisions you have to make every day. High school is just one chapter of your life, one very long and annoying chapter. It’s a four year long chapter full of lessons, adventures, and so many mistakes.

As I continue to grow, I know there will be so much more that I need to learn. Although I know that is true, everything I truly learned lessons from has happened in high school. This could be because high school was the longest years of my life, or this could be another reason.

I think my high school truly prepared me for what happens next, the exposure I got has helped me get ready for the next chapter of my life. As graduation approached, I remember going around and asking my classmates what high school truly taught them. The answers I got were different, but at the same time they were the similar. I think this is because we learned the same things, but at different times in our high school careers.

Lukas spoke of the importance of networking and making good connections. Those connections could be made with friends, teachers, or even other alumnus. We learned that connections and networking are vital for survival before college, and that’s only because of the opportunities the school offers.

I remember Alaina talking to me about due dates, setting up due dates for yourself important. Only you truly know how you operate, and only you can control your procrastination. In high school (or at least at ours) we learned that setting deadlines and goals for yourself is a good way to stay prioritized and organized.

Nabeel spoke to me about treating others the way you want to be treated. Now yes, this is something him and I already knew, but this was more than that. Nabeel went more in depth and mentioned how friends can come and sometime they do go. As hard as it may be, sometimes you have to let go of toxic relationships.

I never really thought about how certain people aren’t meant to be in our life forever, that they are only in our lives so they can help you understand things about ourselves. I’ve had to learn this the hard way, but it hasn’t made me bitter. If anything, the loss of certain friendships have helped me understand more about myself.

It was a lesson I had taken the longest to understand, I never fully got how people could just end friendships. Some people come into your life so you can lean certain things about the world, others help you realise how you want to be treated in the world. It’s not just classmates and friends that helped me learn though, but most lessons that I experienced came from my teachers.

We aren't talking about class lessons either, because balancing chemistry equations and the pythagorean theorem do not help me in my major. I’m talking about those life lessons and life talks you see with teachers people think only happen on Boy Meets World. All my teachers had lessons for me.

Dr. Kennedy was my english teacher my junior year, and at the same time she was so much more. For so many years all we knew was structure and planning essays based on given topics, so for our essay she said, “Write what’s important to you." What? Was she crazy!?

She gave us complete freedom to write about what we cared about. Dr. Kennedy wanted us to understand things past the black and white, with her there were so many shades of grey. So many shades of grey and so many sides to the same story.

Dr. Kennedy was always there to encourage me to express myself and use my poetry as a weapon of change. Dr. Kennedy taught me lessons in English and lessons in the real world at the same time. She’s so much more than an English teacher.

Mrs. Kuhlman was another teacher who helped me express myself more, I mean I would hope so, she is the art teacher. Being honest, without her I have no idea where I would be going to college to express myself. Not until my sophomore year photography class did I even know what I wanted to do with my life.

Mrs. Kuhlman gave me opportunities to be in art galleries and enter different types of competitions. She even selected me to be apart of the future artist program my senior year. Without Mrs. Kuhlman I don’t know what major I’d even be doing right now.

My sophomore year with her is when my life changed forever. It was the year my mom got me a camera, and the summer I joined a program where I made my first social issue documentary. Not only was my love of photography gained, but also my love of film.

Mrs. Walsh taught me the lesson of believing in myself, she had been there with me since the start of my freshman year. She was always there to listen and give advice, she’s helped me gain more confidence in myself. Even though it was something I had to do on my own she helped me become the smiley and happy-go-lucky girl I am now.

Ms. Charles was Pre-Calculus teacher and my dorm parent, until I met her I never thought I could get so close to anyone in such a short amount of time. She was like an older sister, she would listen to my problems now matter how simple. She made me feel sane, whenever the outside world was too much for me I could escape to her house.

We’d play brain games, like connect four and battleship, and sometimes we’d just sit there and color. She let me bring in my record player and I’d get to show her my choices in music.I will always be grateful for her shoulder.

There are so many teachers that have taught me lessons and I’m grateful for; Mr. Wang and Ms Sollazzo, Mrs. Moore, Miss Lewis, Dr. Hooks, Mr. Lafond, Mr. Marnell, Miss Campbell, Mr. Fabian, Mr. Eder, Senora Lopez-Trigo, and Dr.Gardner. I’m grateful for them because in a way they helped raise me. This is especially true because I go to boarding school, being away from home makes you cling to things that feel like home.

My home was in Mrs. Dvorak’s advisory, and every day she taught me lessons about life and understanding where other people are coming from. Dr. Hooks was my advisor with Mrs. Dvorak, but when he left she took over full time. So Mrs. Dvorak and Mrs. Redford have been more than college counselors to me, they’ve become family. Mrs. Dvorak and her daughters have really took me in and made me feel like I was apart of the family.

My high school experience was like a roller coaster, there were downs, ups, and a bunch of twists. I couldn't be happier with it though, because everything that happened has made me into the person I am today. There are so many more things I learned, and if it was just things from my friends this article would be miles long.

I know that there is still a lot I have to learn, but for now I can happily say: All That I Really Needed To Know I Learned in High School.