How high school can bring you to terms with who you really are

In five years, the words “high school” will provoke a variety of different reactions. Some people will reflect on their peak years, and some will be eternally grateful to have left that burning pit of despair. Most people will probably have forgotten the vocab words and the equations. But the lessons most likely to be remembered won’t be taught in a classroom. They were developed over the course of our school lives.

In middle school, like most people, I was extremely self-conscious and insecure. Is this outfit okay? Do people only like me because I help them with their homework? Are the people I hang out with weird? Why doesn’t that boy like me? I felt ashamed to be involved in stereotypically nerdy activities even though I loved them. My own personality started to annoy me and I wanted to change. Into what or who, I don’t know, but I just couldn’t stand myself.

Then, almost like magic, high school came around and those thoughts dwindled away. I don’t know if it was the people I was around, or the things that I became involved in, but it just got better. I stopped caring about everyone else. I stopped caring so much about what I wore, what I did, how I talked, what I said. I stopped listening to the shouts of “If you want to be cool you have to do this.” I realized how irrelevant other people’s perception of me was and I started actually enjoying my life. And honestly, I’ve never been happier.

Sing out loud if a song’s stuck in your head, do an ostrich dance, compliment someone if they look good, say that sarcastic comment. Just don’t be afraid of making a complete and utter fool of yourself because not worrying about the people around you makes for the best memories.

Maybe high school isn’t supposed to teach us how to find the slope of a line or the author’s purpose. We hear adults tell us that now is the time when we change the most, mentally and physically. Maybe high school is about getting the awkward out of our system and being okay with who we are.