I know what you’re thinking; are you kidding me?
High school is something almost everyone experiences. However, everyone’s feelings toward high school are split; either they hate it or they love it. Fortunately, I have been pretty blessed when it comes to my high school experience. I have been able to look on the bright side of the things thrown at me in high school, and have made it this far; to my senior year. Here are a few things I am thankful high school has taught me.
1.) It helped me find my passion.
If I had never had the best support system when it came to teachers and club advisers, I would be completely lost when it came to my future after high school, which is only a few short months away. Without my amazing teachers, the ones who encouraged my passion for writing, and who acted more like my friends than my educators, I would have not had the ability to come this far.
2.) It helped me set my goals.
High school is all about showing colleges how amazing you are; at least to me, it is. Though, when joining clubs and taking on sports, it’s hard to stay on track with work, which is why setting and achieving goals was so important to me. It didn’t matter if I simply got the grades I had hoped for, figured out what was important to me, or learned better time management, any goal I achieved was a big one. To stay motivated, you have to stay on track.
3.) It helped me find my voice.
In the midst of joining the school newspaper, I had finally found something I was good at, and very much enjoyed. My voice kind of goes hand in hand with the Lakeland Lance, and the two advisers I have worked under throughout high school who have cheered me on in my biggest accomplishments (Mrs. Shingler and Mr. Scanlon; this is you).
4.) It showed me what good stress is.
Do you remember going to school events and having a million things go wrong, but at the same time, everything was perfect? While you were running around like a crazy person trying to plan a million things, you forgot to stop and take a look around and realize that nothing is so drastically wrong that you should feel this way. High school helped me determine the difference between good and bad stress, and show me a little bit of both.
5.) It helped me find out what a true friend is.
You always hear that you lose all of your friends in high school; I think it’s more like weeding out the bad ones so you can find the truly amazing ones. Sure, everyone loses friends, and there are a million reasons why, but the sting of a loss can be easily healed with the help of someone who means so much to me. I have had a fair share of great friends in my lifetime, and those ones are reading this article right now, and hopefully, smiling. Thanks for always having my back.
