This I Have Learned

     There's a bunch of cliches that seniors always tell freshmen, like, "it goes by so fast" or "enjoy it while it lasts." It even feels cliche to include those phrases in my blog post. But it really is true, and partially because of Covid, but high school flew by.

    Looking back, if there was one piece of advice that I would be able to give my freshman year self would be to not be so emotional!!! I was so obsessed with getting a 4.0 for no reason that I was one of those people to get upset over a B on a test. We as students heard every standardized testing week that, "a test doesn't define you." It became tiresome to hear, but it really is good advice that can be applied throughout high school. A project doesn't define you, an error made at a softball game, a poor speech in debate class. It's good advice, and something I wish I would've taken more seriously. I know it's a good thing, holding myself to a high standard, but I promise that all of the times I had cried over geometry have taken years off of my life.

   Now at the end of high school, not having perfect grades thanks to the first semester of junior year, I've gotten into college, with a few rejections, and am perfectly happy about how the next four years are going to go. I spent so much of high school being so stressed out and in a month a lot of it isn't even going to matter anymore. Spending all night studying for tests, I wish I just could've told my underclassman self to just get some sleep because I wouldn't even remember any of that information in a few years. 

    I understand that going into college, that may not exactly seem like the mentality to have, because obviously grades matter significantly more, but I hope to find a balance. I've learned that worrying, and stressing, and practically making myself sick over schoolwork provides me with a terrible mental state. I don't mean partying every night, but it's equally as important to have a social life as it is to be an excellent student. I wish I would have understood that better at the beginning of high school, but I really enjoyed the past four years none the less. Thank you Mrs. Feldkamp for helping to make this not-so-enjoyable year a whole lot better :)