In the town where I grew up, 8th through 12th grades were (and still are, to my knowledge) grouped together in the same outdated building. That means my freshman year proper (that is, 9th grade) wasn’t so monumental. But the jump into 8th grade was a big deal, and absolutely terrifying. A timid 12-year-old me scampered down hallways owned by thickly bearded 18-year-olds who caused everyone to scatter for fear of accidentally getting underfoot and being placed headfirst inside a garbage can.
For this reason, among others, I didn’t like high school very much. I approached the whole endeavor with the mindset of a prisoner, counting down the hours, days, months, and years until I would be released, all the while complaining bitterly about the various mistreatments to which students were subjected. Existentialist questions abounded: Were we building character? Were we learning? Were we being prepared for something greater yet to come? The answers, I now understand, were somewhere between yes, yes, and maybe. No one knew anything then, and we know still less now. Here’s what I remember (and some thoughts on what you can learn from it):
Memory 1: Sartorial Splendor
I remember kids in high school caring a lot about clothes—and, basically, “caring” meant “being highly critical for no apparent reason.” No matter what anyone wore—from cool t-shirts to ill-fitting hand-me-downs—people made fun of it.
Lesson Learned
Instead of wearing clothes, you can throw the fashion police off your trail by wearing cloths. Of the loin variety.
Memory 2: The Sweat
I remember kids sweating extensively, especially when coming back to the classroom after gym. We were given two minutes to cool down and insert our damp bodies back into the clothes that everyone whispered about. And after this we were expected to parse knotty passages from The Age of Innocence.
Lesson Learned
Keep a stick of deodorant in your backpack and don’t try so dang hard during gym. Your indoor field hockey skills may be fantastic, but remember that no one in high school is impressed by anything.
Memory 3: Late Nights with Textbooks
I remember staying up late to do homework. Before high school, I could dispatch all nightly assignments in about an hour, after which I was free to ride my bike for a few hours. But all high school teachers seemed to working toward the common goal of keeping me from the things I enjoyed. In one evening, I might be expected to read a chapter of a book I hated, do 20 algebra problems that made no sense, understand the causes and effects of the Boston Massacre, and memorize all the bones of the hand.
Lesson Learned
Suck it up and do your work, or blow it off and flunk out. (We recommend the former.) You may have to reassess your hobbies and shelve the ones that are not totally awesome. And the ones that are? Expect to do those much less frequently.
Memory 4: The Caf
I remember the food in the cafeteria tasting the same as burning tires smell.
Lesson Learned
Pack a lunch. Five school days give you the chance to experiment with five different types of sandwiches every week. Or you can try out a new sammy every day of the year, blog about it, and hope someone in Hollywood options it for the big screen. Congratulations, you are now playing yourself in a movie version of your life called Four Years Between Two Slices of Multigrain.
Memory 5: The Sports
I remember playing varsity sports. This new range of extracurriculars was one of the best things about high school. Sports forced me to hang with my friends outside of the classroom, and I got to do something fun and exciting immediately after spending six hours doing something painful and boring.
Lesson Learned
Join a team. Or join two teams if you’re feeling ambitious. I recommend cross country, because you get to run through the woods. Tennis is another good option, because you get to face off with a very short robot. You should also play any sports at which you are completely amazing. Winning feels good.
Memory 6: Math Goes Crazy
I remember math losing all connection to reality. Before high school, math was great. I was dividing apples among my friends, figuring out how long it takes a train to travel between two towns, and learning to tell time. Handy stuff. Then algebra arrived and everything was expressed in X’s and Y’s and occasionally N’s.
Lesson Learned
It’s not that high school math doesn’t apply to real life, it’s that teachers generally don’t explain how these complex equations relate to the physical world. If you do a little research, you’ll find that algebra is used in almost every kind of engineering project, geometry plays a big role in architecture, and calculus can help you understand how filmmakers pulled off that incredible Quidditch scene in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Memory 6.5: The Best Years of My Life (Or Maybe Not)
I remember forging lifelong friendships, gaining a ton of unforgettable knowledge, and enjoying an unparalleled freedom that taught me to think for myself. Oh wait, that was college.
Lesson Learned
Go to college. It’s just like high school, except not at all, because it's a quadrillion times better.
What concerns you most about going to high school? Or if you're already there, what do you think you’ll remember about it?
Topics: Life
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