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An Open Letter To All High School Students

Don't rush your final days; you'll miss it.

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An Open Letter To All High School Students
Erika Sheets

High school: the most dreadful part of your school career. Trying to form relationships (which trust me, high school relationships are one of the worst relationships you could probably ever have), doing anything to fit in and just trying to fulfill self meaning and grasp onto the meaning of life and the biggest questions we will face. "Where does it go from here?" "Will I make a difference in this world?" "What do I want my career pathway to be?"

I found myself worrying about this question continuously to the point where it became tedious. I was too worried about my future instead of living in the present, and I believe almost every human being is guilty of this every so often. I know this may sound foolish or even idiotic, but do not make the same mistakes I did as far as wanting to move to the next level of your school career into the adult world too quickly. When I started my first year of college, I began to have a certain feeling I hadn't felt before.

As days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months, I found myself to feel like something major had been missing. Like a part of me had just disappeared yet I couldn't quite put my finger on it. As I scroll through my Instagram, I look at pictures of my friends that hadn't graduated yet and even though I wanted to graduate and leave high school, I finally figured out why I had such a feeling of loss. I missed the thing I was so desperately trying to avoid and encounter. For the first time, I was actually envious of a high school student.

You'd never expect a college student to be envious of a high school you'd probably think "You have so much freedom why would you want to be a high schooler again?" or "Why would you want to go back? You get to be an adult." However, the reality is adult life isn't always how you picture it and trust me, you'll miss high school. You'll miss seeing the same people you saw your entire life, high school sports, Friday night football games, seeing if you and your friends have any classes together, school dances, extra curricular activities, the environment, the social aspects and most importantly, you'll miss the most stressful thing about your life being grades or your crush not liking you back.

Adult life isn't all bad; trust me it has it's perks. However, if you're reminiscing about your final days in high school, stop yourself and start to think about the present and soak up your final days and make them the best days of your high school career because it doesn't last forever; live in the moment. Don't wish for high school to breeze on by; it already goes by fast enough. Instead live your life day by day and enjoy the little things on the way, because once you leave, there's no turning back.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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