High school. The place where memorization is the key to success. The place where being quiet and raising your hand determines if your a good student or not. High school is just one big la la land. They say you'll need to know what a ribosome is or what the real message in Romeo and Juliet is, so you can be successful in life. What they won't teach you is how to write a resume or how to have a successful interview because that's not in their curriculum, therefore it is not important. Don't get me wrong their are always teachers that are just awesome. They tell you the truth about life and make sure you will be successful because they truly care about you.
High school is also the place where friends do matter, and I don't mean friends you rarely talk to because you're too "busy". I mean actual friends that you can tell anything to. You can build each other up, but also be brutally honest because it shows you care. It shows that you don't want them to get hurt by people that don't even know them.
High school is the place where you learn to not care what others think about you. You basically say "screw it" and go to school in sweatpants (as long as it is allowed in the dress code because we all know how flattering sweatpants are). When you learn to not care, you also learn that no one truly cared about how you looked or how you acted because they had their own problems. You realize that it was all in your head, and that no one was really judging you. It was more was more along the lines of you judging yourself. (Don't get me wrong I know about bullying, and I know people can be cruel, but if you are being bullied please let someone know. Tell one of your friends or even one of your teachers. Just don't kill yourself. People do care about you and you are not alone.)
In high school, you realize that nothing really matters. You realize that it doesn't matter if you went to Homecoming or Prom. It doesn't matter if you knew everyone. It doesn't matter if you bought you're school pictures or not. You realize that it is just an attempt at an illusion to cover up the fact that school kind of sucks (there is that one class or that one teacher, however, that just makes the day less sucky).
Finally, you learn to think for yourself. You'll go to class with different people and not see your friend that you were used to. You will learn that you won't always have someone to lean on and that you will have to make decisions on your own. You realize you have your own mind and can make your own decisions that benefit you that way you are not following, but leading your own life the way you want to. And that is the best thing high school can teach you.
