I was told upon entering my freshman year of high school that those were supposed to be the "best four years of my life". And while it was fun, and I learned a lot about life, myself, and of course the academics, if I could go back in time I wouldn't choose to go back there.
1. Crowded Hallways
In my school, we had five minute passing periods to get to our next class. And while that seems doable, cramming four years worth of students and staff into a narrow hall makes it next to impossible. If the fire alarm had gone off, no one would have escaped.
2. Waking Up Early
I have absolutely no idea how I used to wake up at 6am every day, and be at school by 7am. AND, I looked nice every day, my hair and makeup was always done. Now, I choose to have my classes in the afternoon and can sleep in almost as late as I want.
3. Gym Class
Now, gym in any school is awful. It's hot, it's sweaty, and it's exercise. Not to mention you're forced to exercise in a way that isn't fit for you, and you're forced to do it in front of people you don't like. In my school, we had "CV Days". Depending on how you did on the mile, you had to do a certain amount of cardio vascular days per semester; meaning you either had to ride bikes or do weight circuit. Gym teachers would come and check your heart rate, and if it wasn't up high enough, you didn't get credit for the day.
4. Popularity
As we got older, this went away. But at the beginning of high school, it was very obvious who was considered cool and who wasn't.
5. Parking Lots
If you've ever been to a high school parking lot before school started, you'd know how crowded it is. Traffic is AWFUL, and the kids who just got their licenses don't have any idea what they're doing. At my school, if you were unlucky enough to be parked in the far lot, getting lunch or trying to go home was a haul.
6. Assembly's
The nice thing about these was getting out of class early. The not so great thing was, most of the time the crowd was too big for you to find your friends to sit with, and it was usually on a subject that wasn't interesting at all.
7. Dress Code
I get that it's school and we needed to dress appropriately, but having school administration checking me out to see if my straps were an inch wide is absolutely ridiculous.
8. Temperature of the Classrooms
I'd literally go from sweating in first period to freezing and grabbing a sweater for second period. The cycle would continue all day. Not to mention, our school had NO A/C whatsoever, so in the warmer months, we'd all pass out from heat exhaustion.