We always hear that high school years are the best years of our lives. While that may be true to some, I have to say that I disagree.
When you graduate high school, and you get five years down the road, you reflect back on the life that you had in high school. You're either glad that you're no longer in that dark place, or you miss it and wish your life was easy like it was back then. I'm one of those that miss it. I miss almost everything about it. Mostly, though, I miss cheerleading and being able to run a billion miles without feeling like I'm falling apart. I miss my high school friends. Living over an hour away doesn't leave much room to catch up on the regular. High school was fun for me. Despite the few people that were natural meanies, I very much enjoyed those years. However, were they the best years of my life? No. They were not.
After graduation, the following fall I started college at an excellent university. At the time, it was just another school that would eventually give me another piece of paper that signified that I completed another long awaited journey. As the semester progressed, I started to realize what all the hub-bub was about. College was a crap load of fun. I no longer lived under my parents' roof which meant NO RULES! Wahoo! I could live in the same building as my friends. I had a great job that helped me meet even more people. I made a ton of friends. Everyday I was meeting someone knew and further progressing my opportunities. I was an adult, and I loved it. Life in college was drama free. I grew into a woman that had an even stronger image of myself. I felt happier as a person.
College is so much fun. College teaches you how to do the thing that we're all doomed for, which is adulting. Those that get the college experience are blessed. They get four, or five or six, years after high school to get their act together before they're thrown out into the world. They get those years to do the things that they want to do without heavy repercussions. Adulting isn't fun. Sure, when you're in college, you still have bills to pay. You work long hours to have internet to spend long hours to study for a test. College has taught me a lot about life, and myself, and I wouldn't wish it away for another day in high school. Are college years the best years of your life? Nope. Not even then.
Every year is the best year of your life. If we spend our whole lives looking back and missing those times, then we will waste every minute that we have left on this earth. Yes, when we're in high school we're still young and haven't gained that dreadful freshman 15 yet. Yes, when we're in college we make new friends and get freedom to do our own thing. Yes, when we graduate college we get the job that we've dreamed about ever since we were kids. But, today is really the day we should be looking at. It's okay to look back and reminisce, but leave the past in the past. What's done is done. What we have today will never be again. So enjoy it, and appreciate the fact that this is the best time of your life.
