What It's Like To Graduate High School
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Student Life

What It's Like To Graduate High School

Don't you remember what it was like?

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What It's Like To Graduate High School
www.cranfield.ac.uk

Whether you graduated high school this year, last year, five, 10 or 50 years ago, we have all been there. Some of us may have completely hated it, while others thrived in high school and look back on it as being their “glory days.” I, for one, never thought I would ever be saying out loud that I actually missed high school. Not every day, or very often, but occasionally.

I had spent all four years of high school excited to graduate and move on from that part of my life, which I believe, is how a lot of people get through high school, going day by day excited for the day that it will finally be over. High school is tough, more tough than most people make it out to be, I mean, it’s nothing like "High School Musical." Everyone thinks as high school as football games, homecoming, prom and learning how to drive, don’t get me wrong all those things are exciting, and are a huge part of high school but high school is not all fun and games.

Let’s recap: In high school you go through a lot. You are figuring out who you are, who you want to become, you are constantly evolving and changing. For example, once senior year comes around you no longer line eyes with black eyeliner, like you did sophomore year, or wake up early every single morning just to straighten your hair for school because -- why even bother?

You are also figuring out who your friends are. Let’s face it, nine times out of 10 you don’t finish high school with the same people you start it with. Those friends you had freshmen year may not be your besties, anymore -- and that's OK! Most people drift apart and find new friendships throughout high school.

On top of figuring yourself out and changing so drastically each year, there is so much unnecessary drama, and so much judgement, and because of that there may have been a lot of tears. But even if you hated all the drama that went along with being a high school student, one thing you can say certainly you got to learn for yourself who your real friends were. You may have learned people can be really mean. You may have learned you have a hard time fitting in or a hard time standing up for yourself. Or you may just have learned that people are childish in high school, or maybe you didn’t learn any of that..but you probably did.

All the things you go through in high school, all the drama, all the high school nonsense, like it or not it showed you who your true friends were then, and how to determine whether or not someone is a true friend, for future reference. So, at least you learn something useful from all the heartache and misery you endured in those long four years.

Another thing that makes high school rather difficult is the fact that in high school you are not a kid but you are still treated like a kid. It can be hard to figure out where you belong, on the spectrum of infant to adult. You have no authority and are used to being told what to do, by teachers, by parents, by coaches, by everyone. But, then senior year rolls around and although you are still being treated as a adolescent you are expected to figure out your future. This is, for the most part, the first time you have ever been given the chance to make a decision on your own and this one is completely life altering decision. Where are you going to go to college? (The most stress inducing question that could ever be asked of a high school senior that has yet to commit to a college.) You may not know how to handle it, you’ve never have been told what to do for so long, and now it's all on you, you are new to this making decision thing.

Where are you going to live for the next four years? What do you want to do with your life? Are going to apply for scholarships? Financial aid? What do you really want to be when you grow up? (You may not even know yet but you are being pressured to figure it out, quick.) What classes are you going to have to take? You are bombarded with questions and decisions that need to be made, this isn’t a laughing matter this is your future, so you don’t want to mess it up. You become overwhelmed because one moment you were just a freshmen kid who didn’t even know how to unlock a locker or battle your way through a crowded hallway full of upperclassmen, but today you are a senior registering for college, it seems that now, you are basically an adult but 20 minutes ago (or at least it feels like 20 minutes ago) you were a kid..Where did all the time go? You find out quickly that there is no in between time to learn how to do things, how to adult, if you will, it’s thrown on you all at once and it can be overwhelming and crippling.

You figure out quick that college is a serious thing and that you need to get it together and buckle down. That probably causes a few mental breakdowns, right there. You are in a college frenzy, you look at a bunch of schools, think about all the different scenarios that go along with the different schools, you take the dreaded SAT or ACT, and get back your scores, you write essays, you submit essays, you ask for letters of recommendation, you actually apply to colleges, then you figure out your scholarship situation or your financial aid situation, your situation in general, you consider everything -- or you at least try to consider everything.

What will be the best for you? You ask yourself over and over again. Figuring out what will be best for you at a time that you hardly know who you really are is no easy task. But you do your best anyway, and in the end you are happy with your decisions. Finally all the annoyances like applications and essays are sorted out and set in order. By then, you can taste the freedom, you are done with high school, basically. Then comes all the fun things (minus studying for finals). You make arrangements for prom, you buy the dress or rent the tux. You receive your cap and gown. You have graduation practice. You blink your eyes and there you are sitting in an auditorium full of your classmates, dressed in a cap and gown that sports your school colors.

Prom's over and done with, and you realize this is no longer graduation practice, this is graduation. You are so excited because you made it! You are done! You are free! But, you are also kind of anxious and a little bit nervous at the same time. Nervous because you don’t want to trip or fall across that stage, and because this is the end of high school -- a day you never truly thought would ever come but did. You have been with these people for four years and some of them you may not even know by name or know them personally, but in that moment you all feel like family. You feel comfortable with these people. You may wish you hadn’t been in such a rush to leave high school. You may catch yourself wishing you hadn’t been so focused on college for the last few months and actually made more of an effort to enjoy high school. You might even wish you could just have more time with your friends and classmates or you might wish you had gotten to know some of them better, but it’s over now.

Those four years that you thought would never end, are all ending today. During some of the speeches being said and as some of the name’s start being called, in between watching your fellow classmates, one by one, walk across that stage to receive their diplomas, you look around at all the familiar faces and think of all the things you have been through with these people. High school, you think, maybe wasn’t so terribly, bad after all. You think back to freshman year and realize, your freshmen year self was a completely different person, compared to the person who is now sitting in that auditorium waiting to get that diploma.

You think back to all the memories, how far you have come, how much things have changed. All the good, the bad, and the ugly. You may have some regrets or you may be completely at peace with your high school experience. You are, without a doubt, excited for the future but at the same time you start feeling a bit nostalgic. Maybe, in that moment you wholeheartedly don’t want high school to end. You don’t want to have to face the future because it's scary and unpredictable. After all, you just got used to high school, senior year was just getting good, why does it have to end just like that? It’s funny because even though you may have hated it for years, you find yourself loving high school. Maybe it’s just the fear of the future or the sadness that you may never be in the same room as all these people ever again, maybe it’s that you are finally coming to terms with the fact that in a few, short, months everyone you have grown so close to is going to be going their own separate ways.

No matter what it was, for a few minutes or at least a few seconds you loved high school and you would have given anything to walk down those halls again, go to your favorite class again, go to your locker again, or sit at lunch with your friends one more time. But, it’s too late because it’s all over, just like that. You toss your tasseled cap into the air, and that’s it, the end of an era. Seems dramatic right? But don’t you remember how it felt? You are torn between being completely sad and being completely happy, so you are just sort of somewhere in between. Although you want to be excited you are in the middle of mourning the loss of high school, but you probably didn’t even want to admit that out loud. How could you admit that you are going to miss the place you have dreamt of leaving for years? It doesn’t really make sense. Does it? Why are you so sad all of a sudden? Maybe because this chapter has come to a close, and that's obviously not a bad thing, but you just can’t believe that such an exciting and happy thing like graduation could also make you feel sort of sad.

Now that it’s over, all you are left with are the memories and a yearbook full of signatures to flip through. You are faced with the end of your high school career, but the beginning of the rest of your life all at once -- and it overwhelms you a bit. And that’s what it feels like to graduate high school.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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