Being a Junior in college now, I often look back at who I was in high school and I barely recognize that person. There are so many times where I think about how much I have changed in the past couple of years and I wish that I knew back then what I know now. Sound cliché? Well, I challenge you to ask yourself what you would be like in high school if you were the college-version of yourself. Pretty different right? Here are some of those things that I wish I knew in high school.
Your family is actually cooler than you think.
In high school, I was rarely home. Always at a friend house or a football game. Weekends, I was always with friends. Staying at home meant I was lame and that I just didn’t have any friends right? FALSE. Looking back, I wish I had taken the time to hang out with my family a lot more. Being away at school has made me realize how nice it was to have free food and rent. I also miss going home to family to get away from school and friends. In college, I am so focused on school all the time and it is hard to separate myself from that. If I could go back to high school days. I would definitely spend a lot more time just hanging out with my parents. I appreciate them so much more than I ever did in high school, and I regret ever acting like a teenager and mouthing off. Now I can admit that they were always right. (Don’t tell them that though.)
Stick out like a sore thumb.
All I did in high school was blend in. BORING. I was kind of a follower in high school and I was never the one to initiate anything. I went to the sporting events only if my friends were going. I tried to wear what everybody else was wearing. Looking back, I am so frustrated as to why I was so determined to just fit in. In college, I have realized what all of my interests are and I do what I want now, even if no one will do it with me. I have stood in line for basketball games by myself before because I discovered I love college basketball. I initiate things with my friends, and usually they all jump on board. I have realized to go for things, because what is the worst that can happen? In class, I immediately introduce myself to the person next to me and start up a conversation. If I had been this outgoing and confident in high school, I know that high school could have been a greater experience.
Remember, you had it easy.
High school was nothing compared to college, and I’m talking about the amount of work. If I could go back in time, I would already know how easy high school work really is, and I probably could’ve done a lot better in school. I could have gotten a lot more out of my classes too. I don’t think I was ever required to read a textbook in high school, and now there isn’t a class where you don’t have to read the textbook cover-to-cover. If I had known then what I know now, I would have appreciated the easiness of high school a lot more. I would have also taken more time to learn; because the more I learned, the more I could’ve used in my classes now.
Well, high school is over now, unfortunately (fortunately?). College is an amazing experience and of course there is no way to actually go back in time with all of the knowledge I know now, but it is always fun to think about. Maybe in five years I will think of what I wished I’d known in college!