Growing up presents us with many valuable lessons that helps us to develop and discover our character. As Bill Clinton once stated, "Character is a journey, not a destination". Here is a friend of mine telling about her what she realized looking back on her high school journey and what awaits her in her college journey:
Drama, detention, and disaster. The three words most associated with high school. High school, for most, exists as a time of exhaustion and anxiety, a time when there's an abundance of hormones and a dearth of sleep. Most people, I think, are eager to proclaim that they hated high school, that it was one of the worst times in their lives. However, I diverge from this beaten path. I loved high school. I loved the football games. I loved the lunch periods. I loved the lockers. I'm aware that I had what one of my friends aptly described as a "fairytale high school experience," but now I find myself in the midst of preparing for college wondering if I'll love my university experience as much I loved my high school experience.
Paradoxically, I've looked forward to college since I was a small child. The ideas of independence, eccentric professors, and yes, even dormitories and roommates, swam in my head from the time I gained the ability to utter the word "university." Tropes of typical college life enchanted me with their endless pizza, lifelong friendships, and all-nighters in libraries; although, admittedly, my fantasies of college life grew less juvenile as, I too, grew less juvenile, expanding to include frat parties and dates away from the prying eyes of my parents. However, I'm now faced with the reality that I'm actually going to college and leaving behind the safety of homecomings and proms. College, something that once thrilled me, now fills me with a bittersweet feeling of apprehension. Bitter, because I don't know what's waiting for me around the corner, but simultaneously sweet for the same reason. The fact of the matter is that I am truly terrified of the unknown.
For the past fourteen years of my life, I've been living within the safe confines of a cozy petri dish. I started kindergarten with the same kids who graduated high school with me. And now, what feels like all of sudden, I'm being thrust into a foreign environment. The days of uniforms, NHS, and 47 minute classes are over, and I have no idea what to expect. Right now, I don't even know what dorm I'll live in between the months of August and May, which works out to be 75 percent of the year. Furthermore, I can't even project how much debt I'll have incurred by the time I graduate college. High school was a time of easy choices, a time when my decisions on any particular Tuesday wouldn't affect what kind of Thursdays I have 30 years from now.
But maybe that's the exact point of adolescence, the legitimate purpose of transition-- to push you to the brink of the familiar, so that perhaps you can endeavor to discern both the intimate and secret things about yourself. Without high school, I wouldn't have known that I genuinely adore the roar of pep rallies or the whispers in the hallways between gaggles of girls. Without the fear college, I wouldn't have discovered that I actually have no idea how to navigate a world entirely removed from cross country practices and French Club.
Leaving high school and standing on that windy and lofty precipice of college has taught me that I'm not as grown up as I thought I was. While I know how to sort my whites from my darks, lest I end up with a plum pile of t-shirts, I don't know how I'll cope with the vacancy of my siblings or even my dogs. While I know to change my sheets every two weeks, I don't know whether I should take calculus this year, next year, or over the summer. The point is, even though I no longer occupy a high school classroom, and I haven't yet step foot in a college classroom, I've learned just how much I don't know from this, quite frankly, nebulous position of apprehension.
High school taught me everything I know about friendships, biology, avoiding detention, and the best place to sit in the cafeteria. College will teach me everything I need to know about time management, literature, avoiding sadistic TAs, and how to brush my teeth with the light off so as to not wake up my roommate. This in between spot, teetering upon past knowledge and future knowledge, has taught me this about the present: I literally know nothing. And that's okay.
- Julian Fleischer
She's right, it's okay to not know. You have to walk by faith and take it step by step, day by day. Never let fear consume you to the point where you stop yourself from taking risks. Mariah Carey once said, "Sometimes, life can kinda be like a rollercoaster ride. It's like you're going along and everything seems cool. And it's not like you're looking down, but you're not necessarily looking up to see who's really in control. When I was little, I used to be so scared of rollercoasters, but eventually, you have to face your fears. Obviously, it's no big secret that my life has always been kinda like a rollercoaster.
I've had my ups and downs and I've had moments when it felt like I was being twisted and turned, when my life seemed to be upside down and inside out and every which way. And just when I thought the scariest part was over, something even more horrifying would happen. But then, after all the hysteria, everything stopped. There was a moment of peace. I had gained a deeper kind of faith and I knew it was all part of God's bigger plan for me. So, if whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger, I guess I'm strong. It's kinda like being on a rollercoaster. If you don't get on the ride, you won't experience the adventure."
