High School and a students thoughts
Well, this is it. One more week and the class of 2019 will be walking across the stage accepting their diplomas. Thirteen years has finally paid off and now we’re all off to greater things in the world. Most of us are going our own paths. Whether it be going to different colleges than our friends, going into the armed forces, or straight into the workforce, we know that our highschool career is now over and we must grow up and learn to support ourselves on our own.
Even though high school is considered 9th-12th, most of us feel that it started in 8th when ever we came up to this building. If you’re a senior reading this now and were here in 8th grade, you recently got your “letter to me”. If you are able to understand your own handwriting from over five years ago, you may see just how much your life has changed in those five years. Whether it be with a significant other, your friends, your family, your job or future plans, it’s likely that quite a bit has changed.
I’m going to be honest here for this is our last week of high school and everyone deserves honesty. My last few years of walking in the Punxsutawney Area School District have not been at all what I expected. I thought I’d be able to maintain straight A’s no matter what was going on in my life outside of school. I thought I’d remain friends with the same friends I had since middle school or even elementary school. I even thought that I would have filled out more scholarships my senior year and that I wouldn’t be stressed over money. If there’s anything that walking in these halls for five years has taught me, it’s that life is not perfect. I learned that it’s okay to fail a test here and there. I learned that it’s okay if a few friends disappear from your life and that it’s okay if outside events sometimes distract me from my school life (as long as I stay caught up on the things needed). I learned that it’s okay to not be okay.
It’s common to watch movies and read books and dream about living the life of others. You see your peers walking in the halls and dream about living their life. However, in the movies and books, it’s made up. Hollywood does a terrific job of taking an unfortunate event and making a happy ending out of it. But, you must remember that at times you don’t always get your knight in shining armor or your princess, you don’t ever hit the lottery or find an easy way out of trouble that you caused. It took me many years to realize that no matter how hard I try, I’ll never have a “movie perfect life” (as many like to call it). Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone goes through pain and sorrow no matter how happy they may seem walking the halls. Everyone has had a breakdown.
Life is tough. High School is tough. Everything you get in life must be earned. You must earn your good grades, your money, your trust, your friendship, and many other things. In highschool I learned more than just how to solve for X and more than just the fact that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. I learned that in order to make others happy, I must try to be happy myself first. I learned that in order to succeed, I must not worry about everyone else’s problems before my own. I learned that no matter how hard you try, not everyone is going to like you. Lastly, of course I learned that in order to get good grades I must put forth an effort and study.
As you’re reading on you may think I’m rambling on about random high school drama. However, that’s not the case. For some people, high school is a very rough time in their lives and they may feel like they’re hanging on by a thread. For the class of 2019, I want to say congratulations for making it through these last five years in this school and for the thirteen years you’ve put into your education. Whether you graduated with high honors or just barely graduated, I’m proud of you. We all have our own lives outside of school that sometimes it makes it very difficult to do well academically or even have the motivation to show up, but we did it. We must follow school rules for one more week and we can walk across the stage and accept the paper we all worked so hard to get. For the underclassmen, don’t worry, your time being called underclassmen will change as you get older and you’ll be able to look back and see just how much you have changed over the years as well. Life is tough, but just know that you are never alone. Life may seem to be in black and white all the time but it’s not. You may have days that your mind is telling you that nothing is worth it and that you’re not good enough to do whatever you’re aiming to do. Don’t give up. Push those thoughts out of your mind and keep pushing yourself to do the best you can. Never underestimate yourself or limit yourself.
Once more to the class of 2019, congratulations. I’m so very proud of all of us. We grew up together and have known each other for many years now. I hope you all know that you’re capable of amazing things and I can’t wait until we are reunited to share our stories of how we changed for the good. Good luck everyone. Spread your wings and experience what the world has out there for you and show everyone what you have to offer the world. To everyone, never give up and always live your life to the fullest.
Thank you for reading my last ever article to be published in The Shadow! I hope you enjoyed and thank you for all of the support!