The End

To all of you in your second semester of high school, hello and welcome to the oddest part of the school year and one of the oddest parts of your academic life. I got SO annoyed with people telling me that high school is the best four years of your life and how senior year will be the greatest and how your life is just starting and blah blah blah… I get it ! So now it’s my turn to tell you some stuff you probably don’t want to hear or that no one will tell you so you’ll stay sane throughout this whole transition. I’m here to tell you the ugly stuff before it slaps you in the back of the head causing severe migraines… But for real… Like actual headaches and emotional pain. So here we go.

First off, I want to say that EVERYONE GOES THROUGH DIFFERENT THINGS IN HIGH SCHOOL. NO ONE’S EXPERIENCE IS THE SAME AND THAT GOES FOR LIFE IN GENERAL. These are definitely some things I had to go through my second semester of high school. Alright, now that that’s dealt with, let’s move on to some issues that may or may not take place.

#1 Losing Friends.

Bam! Slapped you with that real quick. You will lose friends. You may lose your best friend that you’ve had since you were in elementary school. No matter how hard you try, things can fade, and that includes people a lot of the time. Now, I’m not saying you’ll lose them just like that, but these things can be pretty quick. Or, it takes time. You both could change, for better or for worse, and things just happen. I’m not the type of person to say if it’s meant to be, it’ll be because I do believe that if you want to keep something, you have to work for it. On the other hand, if you do work for a friendship and things just aren’t changing and you both are drifting, there’s really nothing you can do but let it be and let life take its course. Things can come around, though. I know my mother connected with old friends from high school that she drifted apart from. She and one of her best friends from high school stopped being friends because of differing ideas of having fun and they rekindled their friendship years later. Friends come and go, but trust me when I say this. If you stay true to yourself and be yourself, the friends you’re looking for will always find a way to you.

#2 Losing A Boyfriend/Girlfriend

Now, I know I’m probably not the first person you should come to for advice on this, but here’s what I know. Having a relationship in high school is a lot different once you get to college. According to MEL Magazine, less than 2% of all marriages were between high school sweethearts in 2014. I for one am someone who could live without someone because I just can’t deal with the stress of it all, but many people think about being with someone all the time. And for those who do, don’t worry about it. If your relationship does end after high school and say you both end up going to college, the chances of you meeting someone new is pretty high considering you’re seeing new people constantly. And if you and your significant other don’t break up and you both end up going to college, it can be difficult, but it can be done. My advice for that is if you’re feeling other feelings towards someone you met at school and you don’t know whether to end it with your current boyfriend/girlfriend, TAKE YOUR TIME AND THINK THROUGH IT. Don’t go jumping into another relationship if you start to catch feelings with someone you just met like that… but that’s for another post…

Anyway, all in all, having relationships in high school are important and they teach you all kinds of things, so if this relationship ends, it’s only preparing you for your future ones.

#3 Ending A Sport

This really sucks. If you play a spring sport, like I did in high school, this hits hard real quick. Ending what you’ve played your whole life or even just started to fall in love with is one of the hardest things to let go and it will take a toll on you for a little while. Sure, you can play in college or on teams outside of academics, but nothing will replace your high school team. After ending high school softball last year, the summer made me fall in love with the sport and the players 10000x more. I would go through old pictures and videos and just mope around in my own sadness before I got distracted with something else. Post sport depression is real people! Keep in contact with your teammates because at some point you’ll want to reconnect and maybe play a little pick-up game here and there and show off your old but still active skills.

#4 Worry, Worry, Worry

If you don’t already get anxious or stressed out about things, you will, trust me. Although the stress of looking for a college to attend, if that's your plan, is finished, the whole idea of leaving behind everything from your home town will kick in. You might be excited at first thinking you'll start a new chapter in your life, which is totally true and can be exciting, but after that faze when you sit down in your seat for graduation and look around, the next one starts to hit. The faze where you think, "man, this is the last time I'll see all these people in one spot. The last time I'll see some of these people EVER". This faze comes at different times for different people, but it will come, no matter how much you want to leave your town/family. If you're not attending college right off the bat, that can still be scary too. You won't have a solid format of school to look at and organize around. You'll have to figure out money and plan things on your own. Maybe start a career 4x earlier than the kids going to college because of the fact you'll have to find a place to live or maybe help your parents pay the rent. Money is scary and hard to save, especially just starting out. I struggle with it immensely and am still trying to figure it out. Take it slow and save a little at a time and you'll be alright.

#5 Telling People How You Feel

No, I'm not talking about your deep down feelings for the person you've been in love with since fourth grade. I'm talking about serious stuff. You might have been able to slide past some of those feelings you were having about your parents or friends because you saw them every day and you didn't want to deal with the stress of causing a scene. Now that high school is ending and you may not see your friends or family that much, you're going to need to share some things here and there with them, especially if you need help. You're going to need help... with bigger things than not having enough money to buy those new Jordans. Tell people what you're feeing, ask for help, don't keep things balled up inside because when that happens, depression creeps up fast.

There are going to be a lot more problems you'll go through and I'm explaining all of this because I wish someone had told me these things when I was leaving high school. Some of these issues hit me like a brick and I was not expecting them. Just be prepared for anything that comes your way and take it easy. It's a weird transition but you'll be ok and you will get through it.

Here's a nice little quote for you on this lovely Wednesday :)

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"Here’s your mid-week reminder to forgive yourself if you’ve had a crappy/tired/unproductive day/week/month/year. You are doing the best you can. Look after yourself, do what you need to do. And it doesn’t matter what time of day/week/month/year it is, it’s never too late to make a fresh start."

- Unknown