I remember how naive I was in high school. I yearned for the future to come as quickly as possible and fantasized about the amazing life I would make for myself. Dreams were big, hopes were high, and I was blissfully unaware of the dark reality that follows our primary education.
Adults would scold me every time I complained about high school. "High school is the best years of your life," they would insist. "Eventually you'll realize how much you miss these times," they would scold.
Little did I know, they were right. After a mere two years of college, I have already come to the understanding that high school truly was the best time of my life.
I took for granted the life I had in high school. If only I appreciated the incessant hours of studying and homework that consumed my time. Perhaps I shouldn't have wasted it preparing for college and my future but spent it enjoying every moment instead. So what if I didn't get accepted into good universities and get scholarships? Was that really worth the sacrifice of wasting away the best years of my life? The answer is a certain "no."
You might be wondering what exactly makes my life now so bad and why I don't see it getting any better in the years to come. The reasons are endless, but all revolve around a central concept that adults warned me of long ago: responsibility.
I shudder every time I hear that word. Although I thought that I learned the weight of responsibility in high school, I was wrong. Now, in college, I have so much more to worry about. I have to remember to set an alarm to wake up, go to class, feed myself, and buy what I need from the store all by myself. Nope, no more parents around 24/7. How have I been surviving?
Oh, I haven't gotten to the worst part yet: I have to work to earn money. Yep, no more summer breaks-- I've been working my summer away with two jobs. Working jobs that relate to my career goals and that I truly enjoy is an absolute struggle. I can't even imagine spending the rest of my life doing that. If only I could go back to studying subjects that have just about no interest to me!
To those of you who warned me of what was ahead, I want to thank you. While your words were truly depressing and almost drained me of hope for the future, I should have known that you were right. Maybe I would have been more prepared for what was to come. The bountiful opportunities that are coming my way in college and the chances to meet so many amazing new people are just too much to handle.
On the other hand, to those of you who told me that things will get better, I wonder why you felt the need to lie to me. I know you thought that you were helping, and your words did comfort me at the time, but now I realize how false they were.
None of my friends are thriving in early adulthood. Not all of them are miserable, but even though they are finally studying what interests them and working toward the life they always dreamed of, surely they would all agree that nothing beats high school. So lastly, to all you high school kids out there, treasure each and every minute of these days, and don't expect anything better to come.
