Most of the time, you hear college students reminiscing about their high school days, and once they visit their old school again they never stop talking about how much they missed it, but not me.
I visited my alma mater and I despised almost every second that I stood in that parking lot. Don't get me wrong, I love so many people I went to school with, but this idea that we HAVE to love going back to high school is one that I have never understood.
I went to visit my old English teacher and I got to see my choir teacher of three years which was amazing, but being back on that campus brought back some of the worst moments of my life. It was even worse when the students came pouring out to get in their cars and I had to smile and wave at kids that never gave me a second glance when I was in their classes.
As I was standing there, waving to these people who had nothing to do with me in school or even ridiculed me for being the one who graduated a year early felt wrong, but I started over. I went to ECU with a clean slate and that's exactly how I acted. I didn't hold the past against them, and they genuinely seemed happy to have me back. But it felt foreign, being the one who everyone turned their attention to.
My old English teacher made a comment about how I seem to be the only college kid that goes back to their old high school to visit teachers and ignore the people I grew up with. But I don't think I'm the only one. There are so many college kids who didn't enjoy high school and genuinely would be okay with never going back, and I think it needs to be more widely discussed. Nothing says we have to miss high school. Nothing says that the high school days were our glory days. We're allowed to never want to walk those halls again.
It's crazy how leaving can influence people to like you. It's a common theme among society today though. A celebrity dies and we all act as though we worshiped them when in reality the majority of us had no idea who they were or even said we hated what they did, whether it be music or something else. I guess that's just the socially acceptable thing to do, but it's flawed.
Paying respects is one thing, but pretending like you were a fan all along is something I've never quite understood.
We as college students or high school graduates are trapped behind a stigma that says we HAVE to miss high school, that we HAVE to see those as the "good ole days" when in reality, they're nothing compared to the memories we are able to make afterward. Those days don't compare to the memories of seeing you or your best friend getting married, the memories of having our own children, or even the memories of you traveling the world as an independent person. THOSE are our glory days, not being trapped in a school for four years (three in my case) where you had to follow a dress code that made zero sense to any of the students.
But hey, if you enjoyed high school, good for you. Just don't make the rest of us feel less than none for wishing that they never have to step foot in there again.
