As a freshman in college, looking back to my high school days and how four years went by really fast, makes me think of everything that I learned in high school, all the things that seemed irrelevant at the time and how now, we can relate it to real world problems. These are the 13 things I learned in high school.
1. Dress code
My school was fabulous for enforcing khaki and navy blue pants with only four options of color, collared shirts (red, navy, white, and gray). Sexy, I know. Honestly, I rarely followed the dress code because it seemed unnecessary at the time. The interesting part was that even though I never got caught out of dress code, other students did and would be pulled out of class because of the attire they chose to wear. There are rules that if you do not follow them, you will have to find a way to get into dress code or there was no point for you to attend that day and just take an absent. As a prior student in this situation, it felt unnecessary to do that to a student, especially if they were prepared to learn. But think about it, in the real world, in a business that requires professional attire, would you omit the rules and do your own thing by wearing a cocktail dress with stilettos? I wouldn't think so.
2. PDA (public displays of affection)
These are the years of first kisses or maybe your third or fourth. I had my first kiss freshman year, and looking back now, if I was the bystander, I would be grossed out. Just save the tongue for anywhere but school and the general public. Nobody wants to see how affectionate you are toward your partner, especially in the hallway on the stairs.
3. The ACT defines your future.
This is incorrect. I personally am a terrible test taker, and if anything I have learned from this test is that it teaches students how well they are under pressure during something they are mentally not prepared for. Having us wake up early in the morning on a Saturday, with our TI-84 calculator and multiple #2 pencils, ready and sharp, just to sit in an uncomfortable desk for four hours with one break. The ACT doesn't define your future, it prepares you for it.
4. Athletics are more important than academics.
I remember the days of leaving class early to go to an away game or to a tournament. Although it was awesome to be that one student to leave class and everyone had to stay, it was inconvenient to me if I actually needed to know what the teacher was going over. Especially if it was a test review. I stress this not because I hate failing, as most people do, but that I felt I had no choice but to put myself, as an athlete, over academics sometimes. At the end of the day, what is more important, your GPA or how many goals you scored?
5. Three points make all the difference in honors classes.
I took a total of two honors classes in high school, but when I had a 91 in my honors pre-calculus class, those three points came in clutch!
6. Senioritis is real.
7. Student IDs are always bad.
8. If you're not an athlete, special treatment is limited.
As an athlete, during season, I could see how I got special treatment, but when it was off-season, I was treated as a normal student, getting in trouble just as much as my classmates. The main stereotype is football players, which I agree with, but I can't change the way that these things work out.
9. Being a teacher's pet is seen as a bad thing.
If you can have an actual relationship with your teacher, by that I mean you can have a respectable conversation with them and not act as a kiss-up, it can help you in the long run. It can prove that you care about your academics, and they will respect you more to treat you as an adult rather than talk down to you (which they only do that because you do the same to them).
10. Drama is everywhere.
It starts from the day you're born and doesn't stop until you're dead. Just ignore it, or be like me and not realize that there is any.
11. People will steal your stuff in the locker room.
Freshman year, my phone was stolen from inside my backpack in the locker room. That was the last time I took a gym class. Also don't steal, it's lame and pathetic.
12. Don't take AP World History.
13. Fake it until you make it.
