High school. It used to be my definition of misery.
Walking through those high school doors, I crossed into an atmosphere so different from the rest of the world. A different world that feels like it’s watching my every blink, every breath, just waiting to make sure I don’t do something stupid worth spreading. This is how it seems, until you get to know people. Everyone is so different from how I precieved them. Other groups are nicer than I thought. People don’t understand that every uncomfortable shiver they feel walking into this place, they create themselves. There are no boundaries, only the boundaries you create. There are no groups other than the ones based on what they are interested in, and those you can join. There are no classifications, other than the ones you decide to judge people on. Cliques are real, but a person is not bounded by them. No matter what, each clique has something in common with each other, making them no longer a clique, but one group with one big interest. One family. It’s hard with a high school as big as ours to feel like unity is possible, but it is. This is how high school is. It’s not anything like the stories that Hollywood loves to spice up for the great attention. It’s not a movie. It’s life as a high school student. Once you figure out that cliques are only based on your insecurity with yourself, you can finally enjoy being a high school student. Figure that out as soon as you can because I waited until my senior year to finally realize that the only person I was competing with was myself and there are some great people sitting at that table next to me that are great people. But you can never know those great people until you break that barrier you set for yourself. So rip down that ‘do not cross’ police line and discover the real high school life. The enjoyable one.


My high school definition: a place you can be yourself. A place where you learn who you are and who you don’t want to become.