The Perks of Life After High School

“I really came to realize – and it’s the best advice that will come
out at the end of this show – that high school is not the end, it is not
the best, and it is not the only. You will have a whole life afterward
if you’re lucky.” -Leighton Meester

Lately I’ve been in a very self-reflective mood and I started thinking about how high school for me was only two years ago but it feels like a decade. It’s funny how incredibly amazing life got after high school. I’m not saying I had a bad high school experience, it was great but I always knew that there was better things for me in the future. I remember during my high school graduation how everyone was crying and thinking it was the end of the world and I was just standing there thinking “really?!”. There was one point where I thought there was something wrong with me for not being sad at my own graduation! haha. Personally, I just didn’t think graduating high school was a big accomplishment and wanted to just get to college as fast as I can. I knew there the real action would start taking place…and it did! 

My eyes opened up when I started college: no one knew who I was so I had a fresh start, I could make my own schedule, I had a part-time job so I can buy whatever I want, and most importantly, I had so much more freedom! The only way I could describe it is similar to going from a fish bowl to an ocean. 

With all these changes, a lot of revelations took place as well. One of the most important was realizing that the only reason why I was friends with certain people in high school was simply because I saw them 5 days a week. After it ended, I realized I didn’t have much in common with them and just wanted to end meaningless friendships.

The memories of course are still fresh since it’s only been two years but I can already tell that they’re beginning to fade because I no longer think about the people I was friends with as much. I think by focusing and trying to have a good time in the present it allows a person to not dwell on the past and future. Plus there’s so many opportunities to pick and choose new people to be friends with! You no longer have to be friends with people just because you’re all stuck together for 4 years!

I’m not going to lie, it’s not always sunshine and rainbows after high school. Life does get incredibly hardier especially since this whole being an adult thing is so new, but trust me life does get BETTER. So if you’re in high school right now and you’re thinking that things are falling apart and you can’t move on, believe me I’ve been there before and I thought the same thing. I’ve been through many hardships while in high school and I made a lot of mistakes, but that doesn’t mean that it’s the end of the world. You have to keep moving forward because one day things will get better and you’ll look back on it and think “did I really go through that?”.

I think the one thing I love most about life after high school is that anything can happen. There’s so many possibilities and so many opportunities out there to become the person you always dreamed of being. You get surprised everyday because it always turns out different from what you expected. Unlike high school where your 4 years are pretty much planned out, in life there are no rules and you can choose whichever direction you want to go.

Lastly, I wanted to say that it is okay to miss your days back in high school once in a while, but try not to stay stuck on the past. Every story has an end, but luckily in life, every end is just a new beginning. Why not take advantage of these new beginnings?

Until next time lovelies,

-Ruya