Well, we did it. We have made it to the end. For me, I have made it to the end of sophomore year. For others, they have made it to the end of senior year, the end of all years.

It’s bittersweet, I guess. On one hand they have made it to the long awaited end of grade school. On the other, they have not been able to enjoy the best part of it: the celebration. For years this was to be the culmination of every hour spent on the playground, every minute spent in the cafeteria, and every second spent in the classroom. This surely doesn’t feel like the high point of anything, though. Rather than getting to strut across the stage to receive their diploma from the hands of their principal, they will have to get it from the hands of their mailman.

According to what most of my counselors have said in the past, they technically got what they needed out of high school. They got their diploma and maybe a ticket away from home. From the way everybody talks about high school, or school in general, it’s an in-and-out sorta thing anyways. You walk in, learn, get tested, and walk back out. That’s what I used to think, too. I think this should be proof that we were wrong.

We are all guilty of thinking these things from time to time. When we get a bad grade or have a bad day we think: Oh well, I’ll be out of here soon enough with my diploma and then none of this will have mattered. It’s a nice way to reassure ourselves that that mistake we made on question three was pointless or that that thing our “best friend” said was meaningless. When we say these things for long enough, though, in essence we begin to believe that all of high school is pointless or meaningless. 

This could not be farther from the truth. Yes, that slip-up you had on the unit five test up won’t matter in the grand scheme, but all the little day to day ones certainly will. They are what make up your high school experience and are what helps mold you into an adult.

I have forgotten this many times. In 7th grade when I did the bare minimum to pass this was my mentality. Even at the beginning of this year when I had to drag myself to class with sheer will this is what I reminded myself: None of this matters anyways. This self-soothing technique has cost me much. I have missed out on many points and on many lessons, but most importantly I have missed out on many memories. 

Once and for all, I think I have learned this lesson. School is not just about getting your diploma and a one way ticket away from home. Nor is it a competition for rank or rule or popularity. Yes, all of those things do matter, as they admittedly shape you into whoever you will become, but they are not the end all be all. High school is a collective experience of all of the above so don’t rob yourself by thinking that one or the other is pointless or meaningless. Years from now you will reflect on this and remember it all with one overarching feeling. Make it a positive one.