High school has been over for me for over two years. I haven't been inside the school in several months, and right now they're doing a huge renovation to the school. I imagine it will be unrecognizable when they're done. Which breaks my heart a little. But the funny thing about this is that I was one of the students at high school that hated high school. I only liked the dances, the teachers, the friends, and being apart of the theater group.
My high school experience was just short of miserable, but there were definitely some redeeming qualities, such as the 10 listed below.
1. Personal relationships with teachers
My high school was small, and a handful of teachers were the coaches of sports teams and administers of extracurriculars. And even having the same teachers for years in a row, you begin to develop a relationship with each of them. Sure, in college, you can get close to your professors, but the odds of having them for more than one class are not as high as it was in high school. So, I was able to have these great relationships with my favorite teachers. Now that I've since graduated, I am friends with a ton of my teachers on Facebook, but it's not the same as it was in high school.
2. Dances
There aren't many chances of getting dressed up in beautiful dresses and nice button downs and ties in college. There are formals with sororities and fraternities, but those are invite-only. There are clubs and bars, but people show more skin and dress not nearly as fancy as dances in high school. Having two dances a year in high school was something I always looked forward to, and not having that to anticipate is just something I miss.
3. Assemblies
There really aren't that many opportunities to have assemblies in college. There might be meetings for each individual college on campus, but not as a whole. Now, in high school, we only liked assemblies because they got us out of class. But now that they're gone, I miss the sense of inclusivity and sitting amongst the people you would recognize in the hallways.
4. School competitions
Getting a day filled with games and a little friendly competition was the best. Each grade would compete in a series of events and each grade was assigned a different color. There were themes and decorations and corresponding T-shirts. It was one of the best memories I have of high school. Thus far, I have not encountered anything like this in college.
5. Inner-grade drama
I loved hearing drama in high school. It was very entertaining to talk about and listen to. So-and-so is pregnant, this couple broke up, these two started dating, he's gay, she's transferring schools, etc. In college, you have a couple of groups of friends, and you only hear their drama. You don't know the little details, just a vague sense of things. I thought it was an unconventional way of uniting a school.
6. The feeling of everyone knowing everyone
Since I went to a small school, we were all very familiar with the people that went to the school. We kind of knew everyone. It made the school feel like a home. We were all familiar with the lives of our fellow peers, and it was pretty cool. At a school with 20,000 students, there's no way that this is possible. But for smaller private schools, this is more doable. But how cool would it be if you knew everyone on your campus of 20,000? Pretty damn cool. Just not likely.
7. Seeing your best friends every day
This one is a big one for me. I used to have so many friends in so many groups. I would hang out with these people at different times just because each group was a little different. I now have two best friends, and I wouldn't want anything different. We do everything together, and even if we don't see each other for four months at a time, when we get together it's as if we never left. We can easily pick up where we left off and pretend like nothing happened. That is the best feeling in a friendship. I just wish we were all closer in distance during the school year.
8. Easier chores
In high school, dinner is typically made by your parents. So, for washing dishes, you rinse them and throw them in the dishwasher or hand wash them. In college, you are on your own: making your own dinner, washing the dishes, running the dishwasher. You need to provide for yourself. You need to buy your own groceries, do your own laundry, clean the bathrooms, etc. It's not hard, just something you need to get used to.
9. Seeing your pet every day
I miss my cat all the time when I'm away for school. I think during breaks and summer, I take seeing my cat for granted. I just expect him to be there, but when I'm away at school, I miss him more than I should. And I like to think that he misses me too, but he probably doesn't even realize I'm gone.
10. Attending doctors' visits solo
My first trip to the ER was my first semester of college. I was with my roommate and that was it. I didn't have my mom with me to stay with me or talk me through everything. I was completely on my own. It was scary, but it was good practice for the future when I'm a full-fledged adult and going to the doctor on my own.
