Wow… It’s crazy realizing that just two years ago I was a prisoner in a little place that people like to call high school. The time sure has flown by and thank God for the slight GLO UP in my life (notice I said slight because every day there is a high chance that I look like a burnt potato), but that’s beside the point. What I’m trying to get at is that in these past two years there has been so much growth in the way that I once thought that looking back now I would have sucker-punched teenager me many of times. So this article is for all you senior boys and girls that are a semester away from your world never being the same so I thought might as well help prepare y’all for this so buckle yourself into your seat because this is going to be a rollercoaster of facts. Ready? Set. GO!
1: QUIT BEING FAKE!
As much as you don’t want to accept this fact, it’s true. In one way or another you have conformed to what the environment around you has pressured/expected you to be. High School is notorious for being a breeding ground for the creation of mindless zombies who all like the same things and do the same things, excluding any person/idea that doesn’t fit into the little mold of what is seen as “what the in-crowd is doing”. I know it’s difficult not following the behavior around you but it is such a liberating feeling when you finally begin to show your real self without any regrets. Innovators are those that thought outside of the box, not just another person who followed the crowd. Do you and do you well.
2: PEOPLE WILL LET YOU DOWN!
So…... This one is probably going to hurt a little bit for some of y’all but as much as you would love to believe that you have the best friends in the world that would never let you down and will be there for the rest of your life…. sorry, chances are that’s an absolute lie and you know it; you’re just scared to accept that fact. Don’t worry I once held that notion in my head and I learned my lesson first-hand. There is going to come a time where you will have to cut certain people out of your life because they aren’t going down the same path as you and want to drag you down with them. You’re going to hurt some feelings in the process but sometimes you have to be selfish when it comes to yourself. Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying that every friend is going to let you down and that you should only care about yourself; I’m simply advising you not to place all your trust in the people around you because they don’t have all the answers.
3: LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO STAY COMFORTABLE!
So this isn’t the easiest thing to accept but it’s probably one of the truest things on this list. We as humans struggle to leave the areas that are comfortable for us due to our fear of the unknown and fear of potential failure. BELIEVE. BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. Believe in yourself enough to take risks and face adversity because it’s when we challenge ourselves that we see the most growth. Never live your life full of “what-ifs” and regrets because you were too afraid to actually do it. Specifically, in high school, live that time well because you’re only a teenager once. Go to that game and cheer like a fool, go to prom and dance like a maniac (who cares if everyone stares, rock that dance floor), take adventures with your friends (savor the time you have with them before you all go in different directions and miles separate y’all), talk to those people that have been in your class for the past four years but you never took the time to get to know because who knows maybe you have more in common than you think.
Time flies before we even realize it. We think that we’ll always be forever young and responsibilities won’t ever touch us. In High School, I thought I had the world figured out and that life in college would be smooth sailing. LOL WRONG! Anyways I hope that this article reaches at least one high student so that hopefully they won’t crash and burn as hard as I did when life hit me like a ton of bricks. Don’t worry life is not as bad as you think; IT’S WORSE!
