When I think of high school I think of smelly locker rooms, girls gossiping in the hallways, pimples, lockers that are too small, and boys that haven't matured yet. I also think of the person I used to be. A person I no longer know.

My four years of high school were full of drama. All sorts of drama. Bullies my sophomore year, friendships that didn't last my junior year, my parent's divorce my senior year... needless to say, there was a lot of drama. Looking back on those years, I can honestly say that I learned so much. I learned how to mature. I learned the skill of moving on. I learned, slowly, how to not let others opinions of me bother me. I thought I never had to grow up. I thought high school would be the best four years of my life, because thats what people always told you. I never thought the boy across the hall would break my heart and I never thought my friends would spread rumors about me.

And, get this, I always thought who I was in high school was going to be who I was forever. Funny, right? When graduation came around, I can say I was a completely unrecognizable and different person than I was when I started my freshman year of high school. I no longer tried to impress everyone. I no longer cared about what people were whispering about.

Until my freshman year of college... then I felt all of those old emotions come back to me. I felt the heartbreak and the raw emotion of my boyfriend and I breaking up. I thought that since I had graduated high school, things in my life would be more mature now... but they're really not unless you make them be. Drama is everywhere. But, you can choose to be the bigger person. You can choose to grow up.

I now cherish the friendships I had in high school only because they taught me things. They showed me what I need to look for in a lifelong friend, and they taught me how to treat others if I wanted to be treated with respect and love. I cherish all of the breakups and the boy drama, because I now know what to look for in a boyfriend or in the grand scheme of things, a husband.

I now have a group of friends as a sophomore in college that I trust, like, actually trust. I have friends that I can turn to no matter what, without a fear of them telling everyone my secrets. I now have goals. I now have good nights, not just bad nights. I look forward to waking up and starting my day with people I enjoy and want to be around.

For all of you struggling in high school, or your transition out of highs school, know that those four years aren't going to be the best years of your life. They will challenge you, and they will change you. Everything you learn will help you become the best possible version of yourself.

So, I thank you, high school friends & high school teachers.