High school is always said to be "the best four years of your life!" Well, that is absolutely wrong.
People who say the above peaked in high school, and never really left their K-12 Alma mater; they're the people who still live in their hometown attending every hometown game, dance and rummage sale. They're the people whose kids will be born and grow up in the same town, they're the people who don't need to see the world to be happy.
I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with those who stay in their hometown and live vicariously through the next generation; but I am saying there is so much more out there than high school.
There's 49 other states than the one you're in. There's college. There's traveling abroad. There's new friends. There's new family. There's experience.
In high school, I wasn't myself. I was trying to fit in, trying to become someone cooler than I was. In high school, I loved my friends, but they didn't make it to the next chapter of my life. In high school, I was defined by looks, clothing, and who I was friends with. In high school, I wasn't being me.
Once I left my Alma Mater, I began to realize there is so much more than who is dating who, more than the girl who didn't like me, or the the rumors and gossip surrounding someone. After high school is a time for you to grow; to leave the meek student behind and to change a thousand times before you finally become who you are meant to be.
To those who are just now graduating high school, to those who will now start the next chapter of your life, I have a small piece of advice: remember your high school years, but don't try to recreate them.
In college, you'll make so many more memories than you could have ever imagined; those memories may or may not include:
1. Being terrified on move-in-day to meet your new roommate,
2. Your first college sports game,
3. Your first time in a frat house basement,
4. The first time you get an actual adult job, and are able to (mostly) buy your own groceries,
5. Going home for your first break and realizing that the world is so fudgin' big outside of where you came from!
And that's just your first semester! There's three and a half more years to go to make memories, friends and experiences to last a lifetime!
I am probably in the clear saying that the majority of us were not the biggest fans of high school-- and that's okay. I used to beat myself up for not having the high school experiences a close friend had, but then I realized that (surprise) not everyone is the same!
High school is only four years of your life, and so is college. Don't be afraid, wait-- actually be afraid and crush those fears! Do something that you never thought you could, do something that you'll be able to look back on, do something different.
Don't live in your high school bubble forever, it's okay to grow.
