By Rifath Islam
First order of business; High School Musical got it all wrong. Despite the various stories recounted to me about how high school is nothing like how they portray it in the movies, a large part of me was still convinced that when I finally reached the big, bad high school, it would play out exactly like It seems on film. Oh boy, how wrong I was….
I recall the first day of high school fairly vividly. Scaffolding covered the otherwise beautiful view of the front of the school. I was confused as to why all the students were required to take the lunchroom exit, rather than the front entrance. I recall walking through crowded hallways full of tall, daunting seniors who seemed like they owned the school. It all felt very surreal in that particular moment.
There were countless times where I found myself wandering back and forth throughout the hallways because I couldn’t, for the life of me, figure out the horrid number system that lined the doors on the third floor. I recall conquering the lunchroom upon my very first day At MCSM, and immediately finding a group of equally scared freshman who needed someone to pair up with so as to not look like the “freshman loser.”
I also remember the very first assignment that my freshman year English teacher gave me: write a letter to your future senior self—to be opened on the day of graduation. Naturally, as someone who didn’t know the workings of high school or understand that there was more to school than just the grades one might earn, my letter was written quickly with the intention of pushing my future self to achieve the highest GPA I thought possible. It reveals that I had a one track mind, but it got the assignment done and I was satisfied with it.
Freshman year, although I found myself more anxious than any freshman really ought to be, was actually sort of a breeze in a way that I’ll miss. When one is a freshman, everything is really quite simple, and that is one point in my life that I’ll treasure forever; the innocence and excitement and all-around joy that a teen typically experiences upon entering high school.
But as years rolled by faster than I could count, I found myself under more and more stress to the point where I completely lost myself in constant school work.
Yet regardless of the frequent misgivings I was having about high school, I came to realize that although high school was nothing like a movie musical, it also didn’t seem as bad or unforgiving as most others made it out to be. I did encounter cliques of freshmen that formed almost on day-one, and found myself wondering when my own clique would form. But time and patience proved to be a blessing after I joined school clubs and found new people in my life with whom I would bond over the next couple of years.
Sophomore year now seems like the highlight of my high school career. This year was defined by useful routines (both in and out of school), and friendships that seemed set for life. As a sophomore I experienced the most easy-flowing nine months—both academically and otherwise—out of all my time in high school. Nevertheless, my one track mind was still focused on attaining the highest possible GPA, and nothing else. So that is what I concentrated on for most of that year. And just like that, another nine months of my life were gone and I was preparing for junior year.
Junior year was, to say the least, the most bewildering time. I think I speak for most people when I say that junior year tends to be the year that pushes most people out of their shells by making them more comfortable around new people and situations because the familiar routines we followed during sophomore year get completely turned around.
When you consider the combined pressures of SATs, oncoming college applications, and a newly instituted cycle of AP classes, junior year was and is the most intense and all-consuming year of high school. Suddenly, I found it nearly impossible to keep up with my academics and still find time for myself. The months seemed to drag by, until finally the end of June approached, which made me happy to have time away from the hectic schedule that dominated my junior year. Yet, even my summer wasn’t stress-free because everyone was beginning to work on their college applications, and I couldn’t quite find the right place to start.
What with all the APs and the college applications, the beginning of senior year began to mirror that of junior year. At that point I found myself changing my mindset. The stress from all three prior years years came to mind, and I couldn’t seem to understand why I had assigned so much value to academics and such little worth to having a social life.
That’s not to say that academics stopped being important to me as I couldn’t see myself messing up the perfect GPA I had worked so hard to attain. However, I did find myself appreciating more of what school had to offer in terms of friends and memories, rather than solely the academic benefits that came with it. For senior portraits El Dorado Hills contact Kimberly K Photography.
So although high school isn’t quite the whirlwind that some people make it out to be, it does have its ups and downs that can create memories that will stay with you for a lifetime.
As A senior I look back on high school now wondering where in the world those four years went so fast. I do admit that I find myself cringing at the utter lack of social skills I had, and the awkward jokes I would make in times of panic. Yet, at the same time, I can’t help but find myself cherishing all the experiences that made me into the person I am today. Because even though high school wasn’t all sunshine and daisies 24/7, it was four years of my life that I really enjoyed whenever I stopped to smell the daisies.