Like many others in high school, I spent a lot of time during the past four years feeling very lost. I wasn’t quite sure who I was or what I wanted, and even if I knew where I was going, I didn’t know how the hell I was going to get there. It felt like I was wasting my time searching and searching, while everyone else seemed to have it all figured out. Well, I am here to tell you that no one in high school has it all figured out. I always thought that by now I wouldn’t feel lost anymore, that I would have everything planned out and a very clear vision of what I want.
Yet, so close to the end of my journey at San Marin, I reflect on my years at San Marin and I think about how little I knew and how little I still know. No doubt, I have grown in so many ways, but here I am still a little bit lost. What I have learned though, is that being lost is kind of part of the fun.
However, there are some things that I wish someone had told me before I figured them out the hard way. One is that your GPA isn’t everything. I know high school is ALL about getting a good GPA so you can get into a good college. I know that people in your life are probably pressuring you to keep your grades up and you desperately want that 4.0, but it really isn’t everything that it’s made up to be. At the end of the day, I don’t remember the exact percentage that I got on my math test last week or what grade I got in the first semester of AP Euro when I was a sophomore. I remember the memories that I made with my friends and the connections showed me who I was even though I wasn’t looking.
“I still wish I had known earlier to take advantage of as many of these moments as I could before they are gone.”
Moments like these are what got me through high school. It was definitely not a walk in the park, but getting through the tough moments and finding the good in what seems to be all bad is something I will never forget. Knowing that I found these moments and that I cherish them allows me to leave here in peace. Yet, I still wish I had known earlier to take advantage of as many of these moments as I could before they are gone.
Because that is the catch, whether you have a 3.0 or a 4.5, you are eventually going to leave high school, and you and your friends will move on with your lives. So take advantage of these opportunities to laugh and fail and learn and listen to people’s advice even when you don’t want to or you think they are wrong.
“There’s so much I wish I knew, but if I could tell my past self anything, I would tell her that it’s going to be okay.”
There’s so much I wish I knew, but if I could tell my past self anything, I would tell her that it’s going to be okay. That taking risks is part of the fun and some of them are going to turn out to be the best decisions of her life and some of them might not. That she should take in and learn from everyone and everything around her, including herself and her own failures. But most of all, that some of these four years might suck because, you know, it’s high school. On the other hand, some of it is awesome, so enjoy yourself, don’t take it too seriously, and just have some fun before it’s gone.
