Some say high school is easy. However, I disagree.
High school was the hardest four years of my life. Coming into an unknown environment with endless insecurities, every aspect of my new life seemed frightening. I had the toughest teachers, along with endless homework. People don't say that high school can be a burden, but often, I felt trapped. School felt like a jail cell to me.
After graduating from Perkiomen Valley High School and finishing my sophomore year of college, there are many aspects of life and the real world that I wish I was taught. Having a Type A personality and an obsession with perfection, high school became something that I had to perfect in order to succeed. If I received a B on a test, I wasn't happy. If I received a B+ on a test, I wasn't happy. I wanted an A on everything. Constantly worrying about my grades and if I was good enough made high school seem unbearable.
What I soon realized after graduating was that no one ever taught me that grades weren't everything. Grades mattered to an extent to get accepted into college or a further education, but it wasn't the most important thing. When talking to my advising counselor about internships and careers, having experience is what potential job employers care about the most. Yes, grades help, but will a 3.7 cumulative GPA get you the job opposed to a 3.5?
Kids grow up to believe that grades ultimately determine success. Little did those young adolescents know that somewhere during their lifetime, people will no longer ask about your grades. The numbers written on the top of a sheet of paper will not be as important.
Late nights and early mornings summed up my high school experience. I learned to survive on five hours of sleep a night. Waking up for school at 6 a.m., attending back-to-back classes for 7 hours, having soccer practice until 5:30 p.m. or away games until 9 at night, coming home to eat and shower, and staying up until 3 a.m. to do homework was an endless cycle. For four years, I was afraid this is what life would be like in the future.
I didn't know how much more life had to offer. I didn't know that there were fun and insightful experiences ahead. All I knew and was focused on was grades and numbers and percentages.
When I arrived at Penn State for my first year of college, I quickly realized that it was nothing like high school. Besides having much more freedom and having a wide variety of class options, I realized that I knew how to get good grades and although this improved my GPA to 3.9 semester, I needed experience in order to achieve an internship or be accepted into other works related to my major.
I quickly realized that my good grades were merely a reflection of me being a decent test taker and a somewhat engaged learner. I did not want to learn unless I truly had enthusiasm toward the material. College became the outlet for me to apply my passions toward multiple avenues.
I joined a social media blogging network called the Odyssey, as well as a recruiter to expand the Odyssey's world-wide influence. I desired to learn more. I became a member of ComRadio, a radio station operated by College of Communications students and improved upon my social skills when joining Sigma Kappa. However, what I was not taught was that I did not need good grades to be accepted into these extracurricular activities. I needed experience in the journalism field and the passion and persistence to continue to strive for new and better things.
Going into my junior of year of college, my perspective on life has altered. Overstudying and constant anxiety will always be a part of my personality, but I have realized that only focusing on the grade portion of an education is unhealthy. People are born to experience; not live. I have seen the transformation of close friends and family once they went out of their comfort zones and participated in something that triggered their adventurous side.
We cannot go through the motions of everyday life and expect something great to come out of it. We have to take it upon ourselves to search for new opportunities and chase after them. There is way more to us than our abilities to get a 95 percent on some exam.
If we apply and carry our passions out into the real-world, new experiences will come. Experiences are all around us, but we often shut them out in fear of judgement and the unknown. Most of us participate in the same activities year after year because that is what we are comfortable with. We need to get out of our comfort zones. We cannot truly live until we experience.
There is an entire world in front of us with limitless opportunities. Make the impossible possible. Control what you can and let go of what you cannot help. Create your own destiny.
