Freedom to be the Smelly Kid
I just finished a tour this afternoon with a bunch of high school students. It was a group of about 10 kids from a high school, with one of their school counselors. While I was giving the tour it got me thinking about how wonderful it is to NOT be in high school anymore. Now don’t get me wrong, high school wasn’t all that bad, but when I look at my experiences from high school and compare them to my college experience I realize how great it is to be in college.
For the most part I enjoyed high school. I performed in the school musicals and was in ASB, as well as ran for roles of ambassador programs in the community. I had a pretty active four years of high school. But during that time I was only worried about grades, friends, and looks.
College is like a restart. When I began at Evergreen I realized that I could be whoever I wanted to be; none of these people knew my past. If I wanted to be the smelly kid there was nothing stopping me (don’t worry, I continued to shower in college). I think having that freedom to express myself in the way I wanted was a very freeing experience. No longer did I feel like I had to fit a mold to be accepted into social circles.
I’ve also immensely enjoyed the independence I’ve received in college. My parents are cool, but it was nice to have the freedom of doing things when I wanted to do them. If I wanted to stay up all night and eat ice cream for dinner, I could (never have though). Again, it was a freeing thought to know that I was entirely responsible for me. This helped me become a much more confident person in my academic and social lives.
With the independence came a lot more responsibility too. This was also good for me, because now that I was in college I didn’t have a mother sitting on me to make sure I got all of my homework done. I was the one to have to make sure I did everything. It taught me work ethic and I learned real quickly how to prioritize.
Whoever said “high school is the best years of your life” were sorely mistaken. I don’t necessarily consider college my best years yet, but I sure know they rock a lot more than high school.