I will never forget that hot June day. Most of the seniors stood in the cafeteria waiting for the graduation ceremony to begin, while myself, on the other hand, was waiting for it to end. Girls stood huddled close, teary eyed, reminiscing about the "best four years of their lives" and how they would be best friends forever. Meanwhile, I stood between a kid who I had never even seen in existence at our high school before and another who pretended we were great friends without saying a word to one another for all of those glory years. I watched the clock tick ever-so-slowly for a long thirty minutes and then yes — we were off! We walked down the aisle, our names were called, the valedictorian acted like they cared about everyone in our graduating class and then bam! It was time to get the heck outta here — I mean, we had finally graduated. Boy, oh, boy, had I been waiting for that day for an eternity. And here are eleven reasons I am eternally-stinking-grateful that I've graduated from high school.
1. No more PSSA's, SAT's, ACT's, Keystone Exams, Benchmark Tests or any rigged standardized testing.
Okay, I know technically I should know this concept from fourth grade but none of our teachers have touched on that topic since the fourth grade, guys. Also, half of that crap the creators of this madness put on that thing to "measure what you know" has never even been taught to my fellow peers or me. HOW DO YOU EXPECT US TO KNOW SOMETHING THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SHOWN TO OUR YOUNG EYES BEFORE NOW? HOW, TESTMAKERS?
2. You don't have to worry about horrible locker buddies or people making out in front of you while rushing to class anymore.
I can't tell you how many times ignorant locker buddies loved to open their locker door, so getting to my locker was an impossibility with me standing there, or how many times I found two young lovers exchanging bacteria leaning against my locker while being on a tight schedule. Like, "Excuse me, I can see you already understand the language, but I am about to be late to French class and really need my book from my locker!"
3. Speaking of rushing to class...four minutes between each bell, what is that?
Student traffic is wild. If you want to get to class before the late bell rings, you have to take into account many things: the slowpokes of the school, the students who like to lounge in the middle of the hall, the rushers who knock into everyone and don't hold the door so it slams onto your face, (as previously stated above) the lovers pressed against your locker, potential needed bathroom breaks for a multitude of reasons, realizing you forgot something in your backpack just as you are about to walk into the classroom (which is allllll the way on the other end of the building)...the list continues.
4. Hall-passes and sign out sheets...to relieve yourself?
Why must I need permission to urinate? Why do teachers have the right to deny this natural function? It's either the bathroom or your lovely desk chair, with all due respect, teacher. Also, why must you know the exact amount of minutes it took me to do so? These are a few of un-answered questions that all students have.
5. No more fake threats for attention.
I am very grateful the school always took every threat seriously to ensure our safety. However, myself and the rest of the student body are not quite as grateful for the people who made "threats" to the school simply for the attention every two weeks. Not cool, bro.
6. End-of-the-year yearbook signings, aka, fallacies upon fallacies.
"Oh my gosh, I am going to miss you so much. We have to hang out sometime this summer, for sure. H.A.G.S." "Gonna miss seeing your lovely face in the hallways!!" "Glad I got to sit next to you in Bio class and always used your pencils!" Fallacies. Except for that last part...
7. Years and years of unreturned pencils is money that could be used to pay for college.
Countless times did people "borrow" my pencil, only for me to never see them again and the next day, they need another. Just think of how much less college debt you would have if you just would've said no when they asked...
8. The awkward "growing up" phase.
I hadn't fully grown into my frame; I was underweight, freakishly tall and more than a little quiet due to insecurities. Thankfully now, that is not the case at all, as I never shut up these days but, yo. High schoolers can be harsh, man. Reallll harsh.
9. Study halls where napping is prohibited.
What the heck kind of blasphemy is this?! I literally survive on naps between classes while at college. Let's not forget the importance of sleep and energy now, kiddos.
10. APA? What is APA?
MLA was all I was taught in high school. Then, I'd come to find out that APA is all I will ever use in my major in college. Self-teaching becomes veryyy important the older you become...
11. Once you go off to college, you finally get to be around a new pool of people after all these years of the same-old, somewhat-forced friendships.
Welcome Week of Freshman Year was AWESOME for me, simply due to the fact that everyone there was new and they had no idea who I was, and vice versa. It was a clean slate and a place to recreate who you are and how others saw you. "She's The Man" puts it best: "New school, new babe pool." And (shout out!) I most definitely found my babe there.
