Being in high school is not all it's cracked up to be. The movies make high school out to be a joyous time filled with friends and parties and acceptance letters. Don't get me wrong, it can be filled with all of those things, but it can also be filled with the opposites; loneliness, solitary weekend nights, and rejection. This is what the movies don't prepare you for. They don't prepare you for eating alone in the bathroom or being so exhausted after working long shifts on the weekends that all you want to do is go home, lay down, and sleep for a week straight.

Nothing prepares you for the exhaustion and the stress of being a high school student. Stories told by those who have survived high school don't help, anticipating what it will be like doesn't help, nothing besides living it first hand will prepare you for it.

Being in high school is exhausting. For me personally, my weekly routine is school then work then school then work (repeat). If I have a day off of work there is still school, and on the weekends when school isn't in session, I still have to work. It's never ending and it's exhausting. On top of that, there is the pressure most of us experience to maintain perfect (or at least average) grades. There is the pressure to get into a good school and go to college right after we graduate. In between school and work and studying and homework and preparing, there's virtually no time to take care of ourselves or to spend time with loved ones.

On top of all of this, there's also pressure with money. There's pressure to pay for a car, the car insurance, your phone bill, etc. There's pressure to save up for college. Don't forget that you also have to have enough gas money so you can get to where you need to.

Being in high school is just utterly exhausting. It feels like you're sinking sometimes and no matter how hard you try to pull yourself back up, you just can't.

So, here's to those high schoolers, Here's to those who stay up all night and get little to no sleep so that they can get their homework done and/or study for a test after a long day of school and work. Here's to those who eat alone in the bathroom at school. Here's to those who have gotten rejection letters. Here's to those who feel as if they are not good enough. Here's to those who are struggling. To those who feel they will never amount to much. To those who have two dollars left in their bank accounts from paying all of the bills they are responsible for. Here's to those who cry in the shower. Here's to those who don't even have time to take a shower. And here's to those who can manage everything.

It will be okay, I promise you. You are not alone and I am proud of you.