Dear High School,

The past four years I’ve spent in high school have changed my life. Some say that their high school years were the best of their life, but i’d have to disagree on my part. For the last five or six years, all I’ve wanted to do was get out of school, and start my life. The thought of college is forced onto me more and more with each year and I’m pressured into more years of stressful schooling. It’s also rumored that college is the best years of your life, but with my past experience of public school and the mass of people that said it was the best time of their life, I’ve come to disagree. Still, it has changed me.

High School has taught me a lot. I’ve learned that teenagers are mean. You aren’t who you think you are. No more screwing around. Your grades do matter. The list could go on and on. You can’t please everyone. Not everyone will like you, and that’s okay. You go through many phases. People aren’t who they say they are. Your teachers are almost always right. Almost. High School has put me through hell and back and to hell again. It’s a rollercoaster.

Your first year is scary. Things seem almost the same, but the kids are bigger and so is the responsibility. You don’t take things seriously. Your second year, you’ve settled in more. You realize that you can’t just coast through this. You aren’t at the bottom anymore, but you’re still immature. The third year is when everything sets in, and you have to fix your screw ups from the years before. You’ve lost and gained friends, you’re someone that your first year you wouldn’t recognize. You’ve found out more of who you are. But you’re still not complete. Stress is finally starting to set in. Your last year is when it all hits. You have to figure out if you’re going to college or not, what you’re going to do with your life. You have to make up everything you procrastinated in all your other years. You’ve watched all of your older friends graduate and figure out where they’re going in life. Most, you’ve lost contact with. The freshman seem more and more annoying as you get older. You’re a stranger to who you were previously. The stress of figuring out who you are and where you’re going is stronger than ever before. Always tired, stressed, and a little sad. In your last year, you look back on how things used to be. How naive you were. How immature. How carefree. Part of you wishes you could go back. Most of you is just ready for this to be over with. You’re nearly an adult now, you have to make adult decisions. High school is a nightmare. It’s hell, some of the worst years of your life. It’s bittersweet.

Dear high school, you’re full of ups and downs. There’s a lot to learn and a lot to get through. You make me want to quit. I just want it to be over with. But I don’t regret you. You’ve shaped me into who I am today. You’ve taught me a lot. Thank you.