Not the end, but a new beginning
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Meagan Carpenter
May 14, 2010
Filed under Commentary, Student Blogs
“We prayed for its quick delivery, crossed days off our calendars, counted hours, minutes, and seconds, and now that it’s here, I’m sorry it is because it means leaving friends who inspire me and teachers who have been my mentors – so many people who have shaped my life and my fellow students’ lives impermeably and forever.”
~Rory Gilmore’s Valedictory Address, Gilmore Girls
Many high school graduates have told me that their senior year was fun and enjoyable. While that may have been true for them, it was most definitely not true for me. This year has not been easy for me by any means. From the strenuous process of applying to college and the unnecessary stress of the graduation project, these supposed necessary evils have caused me to pray for graduation to come quickly. But honestly, I still can’t believe it’s finally here.
Graduation is in less than one month and I am more excited than ever to be leaving. But the idea of leaving all I have ever known to go to college has put me on edge. I am moving a grand total of six hours away to West Virginia University for the next four years. I will have to make new friends, live in a completely different environment and learn how to live on my own.
Don’t get me wrong, I will miss my parents and friends. You don’t have any idea how many people have asked me how I could ever go so far away, but I feel like this is the best decision I could make for myself. My best friends are going all over the state of North Carolina and some even out of state, like me.
Still, going to a place where I know no one has created a feeling of uneasiness within me. I’m going from seeing my best friends on a regular basis to barely seeing them at all. I know I am ready for college, but the fact that the recognizable faces that I am so accustomed to seeing will not be there with me will be hard. However, the stress that has been building up inside of me throughout this year is finally being released, because making this decision is not only one that will benefit me in the near future, but will prepare me for later life.
Coming into this environment was initially nerve-wracking and scary. The people would be different, the “big, bad” upperclassmen would be torturous, and the teachers would be hard-hitting dictators. I was growing up, and I knew the world, or at least school, would show no mercy.
Nevertheless, in these past four years of my life, I have grown and matured the most. Realizing the close similarities between high school and the real world allowed me the opportunity to learn the basics of adulthood.
Among these lessons was adaptation. To survive in society one must first learn the correct ways to adapt to vary situations. In each classroom there is one unique teacher with his or her own set of rules and procedures. Upon entering each classroom, students must alter themselves in ways that satisfies both themselves and the teacher in order to achieve an adequate learning environment. Life encompasses its own circumstances, like attending college, having a job, or becoming a parent, that require various adaptations.
Surviving in our world also elicits the need to form healthy relationships. If high school isn’t the most prominent place to do this, then I don’t know what is. Daily, we are surrounded by a pool of people who we interact with in some way. We make friends, we make enemies. We find mentors and we find teachers who can substitute as second parents. In forming these different relationships, we learn lessons of trust and betrayal and ones of support and disapproval. Society revolves around making relationships that encourage good health and success.
In addition, high school also allowed me the room to find my true self. I was able to find things I was good at, like sit-ups in gym class or factoring equations in algebra. I was able to fall in love with writing and form a huge dislike for history. This place introduced me to so many options and opportunities. I was exposed to so many subjects, sports, and clubs that made it easier to find the things that were key ingredients in making a recipe that would define me. I know who I am and all the things I aspire to be and achieve.
This four year journey through high school has equipped me with the necessary skills to endure the sometimes harsh realities of society. So freshmen, take from this experience all you can, and don’t forget to learn as much as possible along the way.
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