When I was in middle school I always thought of how fantastic my life would be in high school. I'd be super duper pretty, the kind of pretty that makes all the boys fall in love with you before you even say a word to them.

I'd have the perfect grades that would lead me to an Ivy League school.

I'd get the leads in all the school musicals and be showered with compliments on all of my performances.

I'd have hundreds of friends, so many that I'd have plans every single weekend and would never be bored.

I'd have the perfect boyfriend and a relationship that everyone envied.

I'd have the best four years of my life.

I'd have the perfect high school experience.

Fast forward four years and I can tell you that no, all the boys did not fall in love with me. No, I did not get straight A's every semester or get into Harvard or Yale. I didn't have millions of friends to take endless selfies with or star in any of the musicals.

And yes, these things left me feeling like I was a failure.

The fact that I didn't have this perfect experience made me feel like I was being cheated out of what was supposed to be the best four years of my life. I felt like I let younger self down. I wasn't who I had hoped I'd be during those four years.

However, once graduation came everything changed. None of what happened in high school mattered. It's almost as if none of it happened at all. Nobody in the real world will care if you were popular or if you were dating the quarterback. Nobody will care if you starred in all the musicals. Nobody will care if you partied on Friday nights or if you just sat at home with your family. The only thing they will care about is if you're a person of great character with a killer work ethic.

High school can be a very rough time for some individuals, there's no way around that. While I can say overall that I don't feel that I had a great high school experience, looking back I can say that it wasn't all that bad. I had some great friendships, some crazy fun Friday nights, some great football games, and was involved in some great activities. It may not have been what I had wanted but there was still some good to it.

For all of those who aren't having a great high school experience and feel that it will never end I promise you that it will. It tends to actually end faster than you think. And when it does end, you'll get to spread your little wings and do absolutely whatever you want and live the best life possible.

I can say all of this because I am living proof.