We forgo the pleasantries

In favor of pleasant trees

To engage in our specialty:

Reliving high school memories.

Days divided into intervals

When the integral was integral

So was the subliminal

The literal was minimal.

The ways of teens:

Meaning to be mean

But not to seem obscene,

Weave the insult in between.

Sweet like Splenda leaves a bad taste

No cavities but the smile's fake

Kiss you on the cheek

But you said sugar-free.

Dramatize to fill the time

Of the best four years of your life

But at curtain time you realize &

Trade your petty life for compromise.

But growth is not limited;

It doesn't just effect the negative.

No more trophies for just showing up,

What you give up to grow up.

I went back to my hometown of Rocky River, Ohio for my spring break this year, which inevitably led to my friends and I reminiscing about high school. In recounting some of these memories, I realized that any past drama now seems irrelevant; we probably created most of this "drama" to keep ourselves entertained. Additionally, school work was a constant stressor, but obviously not anymore. At the end of the day, although there were a lot of negative aspects of high school, my life was a lot simpler. Sure I had school work, and I was not immune to stress, but I did not really feel the pressure of adult life until I went to college. High school might be marked by immaturity, but when you graduate you not only leave this immaturity but the ease of being in high school as well. You no longer get a participation ribbon just for showing up, and there is a lot more pressure in the real world. Despite losing the negative qualities of being in high school, there is a sacrifice to growing up and maturing. The better adapted you are to life the harder it becomes.