Why We've All Been Robbed of A Genuine 2000's High School Experience - Nick Ventresca

As some of you may know, I was recently out for over two weeks due to a combination of illnesses and deaths in the family (I know, I know, you're all so jealous). Incoming "I'm sorry for your loss" junk aside, getting back to school has been a struggle, and I mean STRUGGLE. I'm behind on five assessments as of writing this article and next week, I am going to be absent for two days where I will be at Atlantic City competing in DECA.

Now, as I've been trying to catch up, and by "catch up" I mean think about doing assignments or studying and then feeling too overwhelmed to start, I've realized that high school is not at all like I thought it was. I know that this sounds super vague but the more I think about it, the more disappointed I get.

Allow me to take you on a trip down memory lane. Imagine yourself in middle school (or elementary school if middle school was THAT bad). Now ask this younger version of yourselves what they think high school is gonna be like? If you're like me (which for the purposes of this blog post, you are), your response was something along the lines of, "I don't know".

But here's the thing. I gave this response, but at the same time, I did have an idea of high school. I'm not quite sure exactly what birthed this concept of high school for me. Maybe it was my cousin's vague descriptions combined with my overactive childhood imagination or maybe it was the movies and television that force some sort of inaccurate depiction down your throat. I'm not sure. Regardless, I can't even nail down what exactly my depiction was. I think the best guess would be something along the lines of High School Musical but without the terrible acting and impromptu dance numbers.

Now my entire life, I've lived with these lofty expectations. I knew that there was gonna be more work, but it was high school, it might suck but at the very least it will be fun, right?

Nope. Nope. So so so very nope. High school is not at all what I figured it would be like and I am disappointed.

I mean you'd figure halfway through my sophomore year I'd be over it by now, but weirdly, I'm not. Again, it could be all the honors classes I'm taking, but at the same time, I don't want to not take them, because then I feel like I'd be wasting my time entirely. Essentially, I feel somewhat owed the experiences that I've been making up for myself my entire life. It's strange, I feel like I'm missing out on things that should've happened.

I think I just have to learn to enjoy the little things that happen throughout the day more, rather than just stressing out from class to class. Then maybe I can romanticize my high school experience and inadvertently ruin it for generations to come. That's life I guess.