One week and two days ago, I walked across the stage in my giant white robe and got the diploma I spent four years in jail – I mean, class – for. Afterward, I stood smiling among classmates who were crying. I was relieved to finally be done with the superficiality and the stress.

When people tell me that high school is the best four years of my life and I always smile at them while thinking, “Man, you’ve had a bad life.” I was focused on all the stress that came with academics and landing the A to bump my grade. I was focused on all the unnecessary drama that my friends started. I was focused on all the negative qualities of high school.

But, as Shakespeare says: “It was the worst of times, it was the best of times.”

In the week after graduation, I’ve been thinking that maybe those four years of high school are some of the best years of your life.

There are some pretty amazing moments in high school that can be forgotten amidst the tornado of homework, tests, and drama.

I’m talking about the friends who never failed to make you laugh or smile with cheesy puns and hilarious stories. Those were the friends who made that one terrible class less terrible, and their humor always lightened even the most awkward and tense situations.

I’m talking about the teachers who graded easy, didn’t give homework, and served as role models. I’ll never forget my math teacher who drives a red convertible while wearing cat-eye sunglasses and has the most fashionable clothes including a leopard-print winter coat, and I’ll always look up to my Latin teacher who is the epitome of a smart, funny, and thoughtful woman.

I’m talking about the times you made questionable decisions with friends that led to inside jokes or embarrassing moments that make you want to hide under your bed forever.

There’s no doubt that there were a lot of times (or most of the time) when high school was the bane of my existence. But during this week after graduation of sleeping in and wandering the house in my senior t-shirt, I opened my eyes to high school as a whole.

Yes, there were those guys or girls who said things that made you wonder how someone could be so dumb. Yes, there were those football game chants that made you cringe or even leave the game early. Yes, there were those teachers who gave you homework or projects over prom weekend.

But I’ll never forget the people who made my last four years of high school bearable and awesome. *cue Fall Out Boy’s “Thanks for the Memories” *

I’m not trying to force you to change your opinion because I completely understand your perspective, but consider some of the good times that were less painful.