After four years of high school, I have learned so much—not just from my classes, but also from my own personal experiences. High school has been a rollercoaster of events, filled with daily challenges and mistakes that I have tried to learn from. I had a lot to learn, and I often had to learn the hard way.
Over the years, I made my fair share of mistakes. One of the biggest was skipping classes. It all started in my sophomore year. At first, I skipped 5th period occasionally—maybe once every other week—but as time went on, it became a habit that was difficult to break. I was constantly getting grounded because my parents would receive calls from the school notifying them of my absences. My 15-year-old self didn’t care; I continued to skip no matter what I was told. Eventually, my skipping caught up to me, and I had to face the consequences of my grades dropping. I struggled to raise my grades, even though I didn’t want to. Deep down, I knew I had to, and my parents made sure I understood that. My sophomore year was challenging because of the choices I made. Looking back, I honestly don’t understand why I put myself through that struggle, which was so easily avoidable. The realization that skipping was pointless didn’t come until late in my junior year.
Along with my mistakes, I faced significant challenges, one of the hardest being the lesson that not all friendships last. I experienced many friendships ending, both on good terms and bad. The friendships that ended poorly taught me invaluable lessons about self-respect, that not everyone is meant to be in my life forever, and how to forgive someone without receiving an apology or even communicating. On the other hand, friendships that ended amicably showed me that even the best relationships can come to a close. People can fade away from each other; they grow apart, and friendships don’t always have to end messily. Losing friends, in any manner, hurts, but that’s a part of growing up—some friends stay, while others do not.
Looking back, I don’t regret any of it. Without these experiences, I wouldn’t be who I am today. Perhaps this is what high school was meant to teach me: valuable lessons not just from teachers and textbooks, but also about facing the consequences of my actions, understanding that people change, and recognizing that nothing lasts forever. All the trouble and mess I encountered have simply been parts of my journey toward becoming the person I am today.
