High school is a beautifully awkward era, jam-packed with Friday night football games, sub-par test grades and embarrassing hookups. Some like to say that high school is the best four years of your life. To that I say, if those were the best years of my life, my life must be pretty sad.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying I had a horrible high school experience. I did fairly well with my academics and had a few close friends. I went to sporting events and participated in clubs. However, now that I have graduated from those unfortunate years, I have come to the realization that I would never go back for the following reasons:

1. I was forced to become a morning person.

My favorite kind of alarm clock is the kind that doesn’t wake me up before noon. So, you can imagine how enthusiastic I was as I began school at 7:30 a.m every day. Walking through the halls looking and feeling like a zombie, I would desperately long for that last bell signaling it was time to go home. However, in college you are free to sign up for classes that meet at the time of your choosing. I now know what it truly means to have a “good night’s sleep.”

2. Naps between classes are godly.

With that being said, I am thoroughly excited that college has allowed me to revert back to my preschool ways and reintroduced the idea of nap time. I think we college students can all agree we have created somewhat of a nap schedule for each day.

3. I'll never attend another gym class in my life.

To my fellow members of the NARP (non-athletic regular person) club, welcome to paradise. Gym class is no longer a burden we must deal with. Put past you the days of degrading dodge ball matches and timed miles around the track. Going to any type of gym is now optional, and I could not be happier about it.

4. I am now learning useful information.
I may not know how to pay taxes or how the heck a mortgage works, but hey, at least I sort of know the Unit Circle. (Thanks Mr. B.)

5. I no longer need a parent to sign me out of class.
If I have something else going on, if I feel sick or if I just simply want to leave class, there is nothing holding me back. No more, “Mommy, can you sign me out” texts in the middle of school; just freedom — sweet, sweet freedom.

6. I have upgraded from the cafeteria to the dining hall.

Say goodbye to the days of bagged lunches. While I’m forever grateful for that ham and cheese sandwich I had every day (with the crust cut off, of course), I have now broadened my horizons to the somewhat gourmet food of the dining hall. I’m not saying the food at the dining hall is amazing. However, now I can eat cereal, spaghetti and meatballs, and a grilled cheese sandwich all in one meal.

7. What are dress codes?

The days of being sent to the principal’s office because of my spaghetti straps are over. Let’s be real, dress codes were invented by misogynistic men who claim the female body is a distraction to male students. Thankfully, I can now wear dresses that fall above my knee without feeling as though I’m breaking the law.

8. Word travels fast.
Ah, high school — the era of he said/she said drama. That embarrassing thing you did at that party last weekend will catch up with you by Monday morning homeroom. Johnny hooking up with Becky is the headline of the week until something more exciting happens. However, in college, there are 2,000 Johnnys and nobody cares which one of them hooked up with Becky. May the soap opera days of high school rest in peace.

9. There is no such thing as cliques in college.

High school is also infamous for branding people based on the naïve judgment of immature, hormonal teenagers. You play a sport? You must be a jock. You aced pre-calculus? You must be a nerd. High school cliques are the bane of my existence. Who’s to say you can’t be a nursing major on the softball team who is also in a sorority? NOBODY! You can belong to as many clubs and organizations as you’d like without being judged for just one of them.

10. You can be whoever you want in college.
Whoever said, “college is the time to reinvent yourself,” was completely accurate. It really is true — it doesn't matter who you were in high school. You could have been the star of the football team, the prom queen or the president of the math club. Coming to college, nobody knows anything about who you were in the past four years. If you don’t like who you were or how people labeled you in high school, here’s your opportunity to become that person you always wanted to be.

So, to all of the miserable high school students who think this is the end: it’s not. There is a whole world outside of the years you spend in those halls. You have so much to experience, and I can assure you, these are not the best four years of your life. The best is yet to come!