Like most college students, I came home for the holiday for my winter break. My family and I celebrated Christmas, I got to see my friends from high school, I'm in my own bed for a little...the positives go on.

But being back here for such a long period of time always makes me think about why I left to go so far out of state. Seeing familiar faces from your days in high school also makes me think about why I was so eager to leave high school in the first place. While thinking more about how I feel and why I feel a certain way is a goal for me in 2016, I never thought I'd think about high school. I'm in college now, so why am I thinking of high school?

High school prepares you for college. They grill you on your SATs/ACTs. They give you college-like classes so you can adjust easily when you get to college. They prepare you for the academic side of college, because it is implied that once you're in college, all that you really need help or preparation for is the academic side of college.

But high school never really tells you how you'll feel about high school after you've left. Unless you had a truly horrible experience, most people remember high school somewhat fondly. I reason it is because when you look back at it, you're remembering all the funny moments and good memories. You don't think about (and I don't even remember) all the tiny drama you experienced day by day.

While talking to one of my best friends, we realized that even though we were so eager to leave high school after senior year, we kind of miss it now. We laughed at first and were teasing each other about missing high school because we never thought we would say that! But here we were, discussing the simple times of high school (especially senior year). When you're trapped in the bubble called high school, you think that these are the people you're going to be spending the rest of your life with. It's hard to conceptualize that there are other people out in this world. It's not because you're closed minded. If you're similar to how my public school worked, you've been with most of these people since childhood. They've all influenced your life one way or another through subtle and direct interactions. It's natural that these people can become your whole world. While I acknowledge that some people will be in my hometown for probably forever, a vast majority left, and now we're all sprinkled across the world. How weird is that? What once used to be your world has expanded from your tiny hometown to the entire world! It makes me smile when I think about it.

If anyone from my high school is reading this, I want to sincerely wish you the best. We may not have been close in high school at all, or maybe we were and we drifted, but I still sincerely hope your life after high school becomes a period in your life were you grow, explore, and live.