Nostalgia is a funny thing.
As I sat through my younger brother’s June 4 graduation from my own alma mater, I found myself suddenly missing that place which I had been so eager to leave in the first place, and so adamant to never return. In these last two years, my time in that school became a very distant memory of which I rarely visited. High school was over, dwelling on it would do me no good, and the time to move on had come and passed.
So why did I already feel slightly choked up before my baby brother even began to walk across the stage?
Listening to the speeches of the valedictorian, salutatorian, principle, and class president, I couldn’t help but think back to what high school meant to me – or rather, what it was supposed to mean to me. I tried to think back to my own time as a student there and I could no longer remember moments in the hallways, laughs after practices, or arguments in the lunchroom. Everything just seemed to blur together. I almost wish that I had written something down, anything, to help me remember something great about that place and my time there. I find myself questioning it often; Did I push myself to the fullest potential when I had the opportunity? What chances did I miss?
If I learned anything from my time as a high school student, I learned it from my now retired high school principle who – at the beginning of every year – welcomed us in with the same two messages.
Time flies.
Take care of one another.
What I can remember is sitting in those uncomfortable green auditorium seats, rolling my eyes at 16 and feeling like high school would last forever. Then I closed my eyes and when I opened them I was reaching for my diploma as that same man congratulated me and wished me the best of luck. Time moves faster than we ever will and it does not stop to make sure that we’re using it right.
And in that time that we had, how did we treat the people around us? Everyone in that school was/is there for the same reasons; to get an education, to grow, to make someone or themselves proud. We’re supposed to build each other up, not tear each other down. Sometimes, we do not realize that other people are fighting the same battles that we are, or much worse. In that setting, it is hard to think about anything else but what is going on within ourselves. I realize now that my principle was not asking us to take care of each other, he was instructing us. Coming from a class with very little unity, I enjoyed seeing the array of characters my brother would bring home on Friday and Saturday nights. And maybe that is what got to me during the students’ speeches: they addressed every single member of that graduating class as their friend. And this is so important because, in the grand scheme of things, that four years with those 200-some kids are going to matter to you somewhere down the line whether you like it or not.
I spent the last two years questioning why people miss high school so much. You’re forced to spend eight hours a day trying to prove to your teachers and your classmates that you’re worth a second glance, and the pressure to be good in your sport or your classes or in front of your peers seems like the defining factors of your life. But what about when it is over? Five years from now, how much will your C in chemistry sophomore year matter? Your starting spot? The boy who broke your heart or the friends who walked away?
Well, that depends on you.
High school was a stressful time. And that is OK. You worked hard. Maybe you got what you wanted and maybe you didn’t. For some reason, it’s the bad things that tend to stick with us when we think back and try to find the good. While great moments can have their effect, the rough times are the ones to leave a mark. Obviously, we all had hard times in high school. However, it is important to remember that that place shaped who you are. Regardless of if you liked it or not, it is where you came from.
You are not your grades or your friends or your spot on a sports team. You are your memories, your laughs with your friends, and your favorite achievements. You are the songs you listened to in study hall as you pretended to do your homework, the books you read under your desk as your teacher talked about things that did not interest you, and the feelings that came with accomplishing something that you yourself could be proud of.
Do not smile because high school is over; smile because you worked so hard to make it out of there. I challenge you to push away the bad things about your high school experience and pull out the good. It might mean a lot more to you than you think.
Congratulations to the class of 2016!
