Why high school is not the best years of your life
Out of all the crap I’ve been fed by society, I have a definite favourite: “High school is the best four years of your life.” For all those in high school who are terrified it doesn’t get better, and for those who are just out of high school and are worried that if it really is only downhill from here, I can assure you that’s not the case. And for the small percentage of you who are thinking, “What are you talking about, I loved high school! Those were the good days…” well, I feel a little sorry for you. As my wise mother once told me, “If you peak in high school, that’s kind of sad.”
In the interest of full disclosure: yes, I am bitter about my high school experience. So, of course I don’t have many good things to say. But this isn’t as much about me or my past as it is a plea to those young ones struggling now to try and believe me when I say it really does get better.
I hated high school – HATED it. I went to a school where ones worth and status were determined almost solely on how many Abercrombie shirts you owned, and how much you could funnel at house parties. When any other factors applied in establishing your popularity, it was usually related to your athleticism. Needless to say, this ranking system did not play in my favour. If popularity were a ladder with rungs, I’d be the paint can at the bottom.
It was so fake. The friendships were fake, the personas were fake, the “love” stories were fake. People you thought were your friends were actually been the people you were stuck with. Better bad friends than no friends, right? This is not to say that true friendships cannot be formed in high school – they can, and are. But I assure you, the majority of those you think you will be lifetime best buds with when you’re seventeen will be minimally, if at all, in the picture five years later – and that’s okay.
The same goes for couples. I don’t know how many times I almost lost my lunch after hearing young couples proclaim their intense and everlasting affection for their partner of four days. I was always thoroughly impressed if the newest couple made it past the expiration date of my crackers. With the advent of Facebook, it only got worse. Having a heart next to your relationship status was the ultimate goal, and teens grew to be more in love with the idea of love itself than with any person they may date in school.
I’m sorry, but that’s the truth, and many older adults will agree.
High school shelters you. You have nearly zero exposure to anything that may enlighten you, inspire you, change you, or even truly educate you (ten points to the girl in my Civics lass who confidently cited George Bush as our Prime Minister). You may very likely have your parents’ money and very little responsibility. There is an established status quo, and everyone just compliantly takes their place in whatever role that’s been chosen for them. Passing through the hallways on any given weekday will rarely allow you to hear conversations that reach beyond last week’s party, next week’s party, or which girl is mad at which friend. Coming into university, I was elated to overhear dialogue covering everything from politics and global crises to the latest research and volunteering campaigns. To call that refreshing would be an understatement.
Of course, where you choose to go after high school has immense impact on the quality of your life after you graduate. Coming to Guelph has changed me in ways that nothing else possibly could. I’ve met so many people, and each and every one of them is so unique. That diversity didn’t exist at my high school, or even in my hometown. I’ve met activist citizens, and perused a huge-ranging club base, I’ve explored a beautiful city, and happily browsed my countless options for the subjects about which I wished to learn. I have a freedom now that wasn’t possible back home, stuck between a high school to which I didn’t belong, and a city needed to be escaped.
Kids, if you are in high school and reading this, please understand that it is uphill from here. You will go places and meet people and do things of which you could never have imagined. You will miss your family, but you’ll have so much to share with them when you visit home. You will worry about the friends you’re losing, but rejoice in the friends you’ve made. You will be terrified to start a new life, but elated that you had the courage to do so.
And, if you’re really lucky, you’ll come to Guelph. Because wherever I came from, Guelph is ‘home’ to me.