In high school I was never the class clown, nor was I the "quiet kid". I usually fell somewhere in between. If it was a class I had friends in or had an interesting teacher I was usually interacting and participating in class. If I wasn't good friends with anyone in the class or had a teacher who wasn't as involved in their teaching as others I was usually sitting in the back, daydreaming about being literally anywhere else.

My psychology class junior year was one of those classes where I had a group of close friends and my teacher always gave us interesting and exciting lessons and assignments. It's simple to say that, although I did well in this class, I was not the best student. My friends at the time were very outgoing and, one friend, in particular, loved to talk. This was a class I looked forward to every day and I loved that it was the class that ended my day because I always knew it would leave me in a great mood. This was also the class where I received the best piece of advice I may ever get.

Now, when I was told this advice it was not in a stereotypical, heart-to-heart kind of moment.

We, the class, were working on a project so we were all typing up presentations on the school Chromebooks. I was never very good at independent work. I get distracted easily and would end up online searching up YouTube videos (my personal favorite is "'All Star' by Smashmouth but every word is SomeBODY")

This classroom also had tables rather than desks. While it made a lot more room for books and papers it also gave me a much closer distance between my friends which in the long run made it easier to goof off and harder to stay focused. My table also happened to be perpendicular to my teachers' desk. Many would assume being in such close proximity to the teacher would limit the amount of talking and other off-task shenanigans that would occur but those people would be wrong. A good thing about being this close was that if I had any questions or comments my teacher was 3 feet away and inevitably had no excuse to pretend not to hear me.

Now that you have a general idea of the set-up of the class and my personal classroom experience we can go back to the actual advice.

One day, the class was a little more energetic than usual. We had about 15 minutes before the dismissal bell so naturally, everyone had packed away their belongings and were just chatting among themselves. Someone approached my teacher and asked to use the restroom. She said yes. Me, being the hilarious person I thought I was, decided to ask "Can I go home?" I just assumed she would say no then go back to whatever she was doing. In all regards, it was an annoying question and I don't know why I felt the need to ask. Instead, she just looked at me and said "You know, Randi. You can do anything as long as you are ready to face the consequences."

Maybe that was her hoping I would leave just so I would stop asking dumb questions. Maybe she was feeling a little extra inspirational that day. Who really knows?

I have carried that response with me for nearly two years. It has been a piece of advice I have considered before ignoring homework, driving a little too fast, or just figuring out if I want to get out of bed on time or take those risky five extra minutes. Those few words have stuck with me because I was never the type to really consider the consequences of anything before I did it. I would just do something and hope for the best. It has helped me learn to consider the good and the bad of every situation before I even attempt something. I am thankful for this advice even if it was just said to get me to be quiet.