There is more to life than High School

Arie Pencovici once said “ Graduation is only a concept. In real life every day you graduate. Graduation is a process that goes on until the last day of your life. If you can grasp that, you’ll make a difference.” High School Graduation is not end all. There is more to life than this 3 hour event during the first week of June. 13 years spent learning new things, developing character skills, using social skills, learning our own value, and becoming the person we will be for our lifetime is what is important. It is not graduation or high school that solely is responsible for the person you become, but of any years of your life these last 4 may have been the most influential. High school is a place that will beat you to your knees to teach you lessons, but it is also a place you can be given the greatest opportunities.  

For example; Miranda Kramer. When she arrived freshman year as a new student at Oak Hill High School she was shy, quiet, reserved, and was looking for a place to express herself. Now we know her as anything , but those things. . She came into our auditorium as a freshman and gave one of the most memorable class presidential candidate speeches ever. A speech in which she put herself out there in front of a hundred plus kids who for the most part she barely knew. She showed courage and confidence within herself. She became our class president and took over partial duties giving the announcements with extreme enthusiasm each morning. This past fall she was even an intern for now governor Janet Mills. She found herself through high school. She found the courage necessary to take on the game of life. She found confidence in herself to reach for the goals and aspirations despite anyone opinions. She found qualities in herself she will undoubtedly use the rest of her life. Miranda allowed high school to shape her for her future while also realizing there was more to life than these 4 walls in East Wales, Maine.

High school teaches you many lessons through good experiences, but for some, the most powerful lessons learned, are those that are learned through loss and hurt. For example, Ethan Barnett. A 3-sport varsity athlete his junior year, and predicted to again be a big contributor in all 3 sports. On a meaningless play, in a blow-out game in late October, Ethan’s senior year was changed forever. It seemed almost unreal. Almost too bad to be true. Too unfair to be what I’d just watched. Watching on as my best friend from the time I was 5 years old was laying face down on the field rolling and wincing in pain will forever be one of the most helpless feelings ever.  Watching him walk off the field and continue to cheer us on was even harder to stomach. He cared so much about the people around him, about the guys he’d spent years working with, that he sacrificed his own health to support us. It took a whole new meaning to the word selfless when he continued to play on a partially torn ACL for three more weeks. Watching as he limped around the hallways at school, or as he’d have to sit in his car after practice for 15 min and let his leg rest before he could drive home, or how he’d hide the seriousness of his injury to everyone so that he could finish his last football season ever. Ultimately Ethan would battle back enough to suit up again , but would only get to play in two more games that season after yet another set back in practice. The injury this time was too serious to continue playing on and would require surgery. Ethan would miss all of basketball season and a majority of his favorite sport, baseball. However, his selflessness and mental toughness allowed him to work through his rehab program and earn the right to play in the last few games during his senior baseball season and even helped our baseball earn a playoff spot in the Class B playoff bracket. Ethan showed that when life hands you a difficult and challenging situation with belief in yourself, a drive and goal in place, and the mental toughness to keep working through any unforeseen circumstances you can always battle back.

My point to this is to say that matter whether it was a good or bad experience something that happened to you in high school will give you a trait, skill, mindset, or something that will benefit you throughout your entire life. My example is a lesson. Many lessons actually that all relate, that unfortunately took all 4 years to learn that  they did. All together I learned that anything in life can change at any moment so take nothing for granted, never take 2 days off in a row because while you sleep and rest, thats time you allow someone to catch you. That mental illnesses are real and they more than suck. That no matter how hard you try sometimes help is needed and it’s okay. That letting things go is okay. That allowing myself to take blame for things I cannot control is not okay because life happens. That sometimes the people that should love you more than anyone else are the ones who can hurt you the most and that is the most unfortunate thing. The overall theme is Don´t judge my story by the chapter you walked in on. High school is a chapter of the book of life that can change people in very significant ways. High School however is only a part of a very long book, one plenty long enough for a comeback and a very successful and amazing life. In absolute honesty I really feel for those of you whose last four years will be the best years of your life because that means the rest of your story has to go down hill, So Ladies and Gentleman with all that said,  Welcome to the Prelude of my story, I hope you can enjoy the future chapters of my life with me and if not that is okay too because hopefully your busy with your own story.

Photo on Foter.com