I recently had a discussion with friends about whether I would go back to high school if I had the chance.
My answer? No.
Now I’ll be the first to admit that my high school experience wasn’t all bad. I had plenty of friends, I was active with a few clubs and I did well academically.
But there is no way I would want to return to the pointless drama and mediocre worries about prom dates and crappy cafeteria food.
To be honest, these past few years in college have probably been my best years.
But that doesn’t mean I haven’t noticed familiar qualities of high school life even after my secondary education.
That is where we begin: I’m going to break the hard truth if you haven’t already realized it—you don’t ever really escape the horrors of high school.
That pointless drama and mediocre worries I mentioned? They never really leave, they just evolve as we age, adapting to our situations. What was once worrying about the price of a prom dress is now about the price of rent.
Those stereotypes you thought you left behind are still alive and well. For instance, where I worked back home I was quick to notice who were the “cool kids,” the “stoners,” the “nerds” and the “teacher’s pet.”
As cruel as it seems, the real-world loves boxing us into a defined role just as much as high school did.
As people, we fall into the trap of reliving those days—even if it is in a different light.
Social media keeps this idea very much alive. Because of social media, we follow people, we base our importance on “likes” and Snapchat streaks define relationships.
Can we break such a cycle? Probably not but we can always rework it to our benefits, giving us a new role to be defined by.
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