High school is a weird period of time. Everyone tells you all these fables and exaggerations of what it’ll be like. Movies like “High School Musical” paint a magical picture of what your experience will be like. All of these are kind of true.

High school is the age of discovery, and it’s a solid four years to mold you into an ideal citizen. Both of these have a difficult time coexisting. Schedules are made and faculty are put in place to make sure everyone is where they need to be.  Structure is enforced and they teach you that all of these rules are going to prepare you for the real world, furthermore, real-life skills like cooking or taxes are pushed to the wayside. 

The most important thing for high school students to do is find out what they want to be. Not in terms of a job, but in terms of a person. Who do you want to be? Don’t worry about fitting in, or what other people are doing, just do what makes you happy. High school hallways are littered with people that you might think are dressed weirdly or acting funny, but they're just trying to discover themselves. If you can’t see that for yourself then you aren’t trying hard enough to figure out who you are. 

My past four years of high school have been… well, an experience to say the least. 

My freshman year was cut short due to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The part of the year where I was in school seemed ok when it happened but looking back on it, I sucked. 

I was a stereotypical freshman who didn’t know how to be nice to people and thought that the world revolved around me. Over lockdown going into my sophomore year, I started to realize that wasn’t true, but that change in mentality might be the single biggest thing high school teaches you. It humbles you, sits you down, and tells you the truth.

The sophomore year of my grade was probably one of the most unique sophomore year experiences ever. The first three-fourths of the year was in cohorts separated by screens. Classes were divided in half, sitting six feet apart, forced to hide their faces behind masks. I can’t really count my sophomore year as a year at all. It was so detached from reality. The only really important thing that I can think of is the fact that I started to rebuild some of the burnt bridges from my freshman year. 

My junior year was simultaneously one of the best and worst years of my life. It was incredibly energetic. I came into a new friend group that I loved. I started making varsity sports teams. I discovered the world of track and field which quickly overwhelmed my life. My grades were great and everything was looking good for colleges. However, around halfway through the year all of the stresses that came from college and just school in general hit me like a semi-truck. Looking back, I was definitely not ok, but I just kept doing what I was doing until it broke me. 

My senior year of high school was actually great. In the summer between last year and this year, I found a lifestyle that I like. It’s not too exhausting but definitely not boring. I was blessed with a great cast of teachers and a lot of new friends. The college application process went a lot easier for me than it does for most. I still have such lingering problems from my past three years but it's nothing that I haven’t dealt with before so I don’t let it overwhelm me. 

I only have a little bit of advice for others going into or already in high school. 

First, is that first impressions are super important. You never get a first impression back so make sure you don't piss someone off when you first meet them because it’ll be really hard to change their view of you. 

Second, regrets are pointless. Regrets just make the experience that you did have seem less important. Be grateful for what you have and not for what you could have had. 

Lastly, do things that you wouldn’t normally do. The most fun things that I’ve ever done were because my friends had me do it. You never know what activity you’ll fall in love with.

All in all, I can’t tell you how to navigate high school because your experiences will be different than mine. Just go with the punches and respond appropriately. You have time to live life, you just need to find what life you want to live.

P.S. Your teachers are just trying to help you; I promise they aren’t out to get you.