On May 15, 2015 I graduated from high school. Various memories and thoughts pass through my head as I reflect not only on my high school career, but the year that has passed by since I graduated. One of the first things I remembered is how much I have matured. In high school, I was always one of the few students who was called mature for their age, for most teachers thought I was very responsible. I honestly had no idea what true responsibility was until I was in college. Taking care of yourself as an adult is truly a challenge some days when you have to worry about paying the majority if not all of your bills. High school was about furthering myself and making myself happy, but as an adult making yourself happy is not normally the best idea.

Now, I have seen a lot of my close high school friends graduate, whether they were a year older, same age, or a year younger. Graduation is considered a major ending of a chapter into your life. Most students may claim to be emotional about graduating, but is that really the case? I know when I graduated high school, I was practically skipping into the future because it definitely was the not the best four years of my life, regardless of what older peers had said. High school was definitely not a stroll in the park for me. I struggled coming to concept with bullying, favoritism, and the well-known, petty, high school drama. I just wanted to be done with all of it. However, now that I am past the high school phase I realize that those things that you hated, like the bullies or the girl who wouldn’t stop talking from your tenth grade English class, pop into to your life in many different forms, and most likely the ones you try to avoid occur more often.

Those awful things from high school did prepare you for the real world in one way or another. I guess that has to be one of the best things about high school, is that it really does prepare you for a lot of life. High school was cruel for those of us who weren’t popular. However, we developed super cool friends who weren’t constantly backstabbing you to be the best. We also learned that everyone is a critic. I mean everyone! There are some days where I honestly want to walk around with earplugs, but I don’t because high school prepared me.

The negative from high school seems to be so overwhelming most of the time, but the truth is it did bring some amazing things into our life. Although a lot of friendships don’t last, there are a few special ones that can maintain anything. I think the friends that I still have from high school are some of my favorites: the one friend who you instantly pick up with no matter how long it has been, the group chat of silly comments that always brighten your day, or that old flame who you manage to be friends with again. More importantly it gave us a sense of who we are and what we truly love. Every once in a while we can look back on those special memories of us doing what we love, being with who we love, and not being afraid. Instead of all the bad, I choose to look back on the moments of love, and that is what makes high school bitter sweet.