8 Things You Don’t Realize About High School Until After You Graduate
1. Those dudes are not that cute
When you’re 23, you realize that 18 year olds look like they’re 14. You do not have to grow a delusion for someone who is “mildly” attractive just because you think you need to. You do not need to be attach yourself to another person (or an immature high schooler, no less) and honestly, there is about a 98 percent chance you will not end up with this person.
2. Gossiping about people is a waste of time
There are better things to do, like talk about philosophy or religion or your favorite color, ANYTHING but other people. Not only does it do nothing for your intelligence, it’s an unhealthy habit to obsess about others because you are jealous of them, or because someone else has told you that they are a bad person. If you keep your lips sealed, people will start to trust you more, want to be around you more, and it’s easier to find and make “true” friends this way. Shit talking just doesn’t promote good energy, vibes or behavior, and people will call you a shit talker… behind your back.
3.Getting screwed over is inevitable
Whether it’s by the “love of your life,” your “BFF,” or both at the same damn time, teenagers are self-absorbed and often take their angst out on others without fully comprehending “why.” When you tell a 4 year old not to eat a crayon, they don’t know better, its bright and colorful and probably looks delicious. That’s how I feel about teenagers; you have to tell them like “don’t pursue your friend’s boyfriend” or “don’t take her virginity then tell all your bros, its like kinda wrong.”
4. Your parents aren’t actually trying to ruin your life
For the longest time, I had a very volatile relationship with my parents. We fought, I rebelled, they tried to control me, and it never worked. I seriously am appalled at how much of a brat I was in high school. Whether you have your own children now or have just grown up, you realize that a lot of what your parents did was for the best. They aren’t trying to ruin your life; they just don’t want to see you end up on a poster in Walmart for missing children.
5. It’s okay to be single.
In high school, I constantly felt that I was missing out on first love, first relationships, first sexual experiences, etc. I dumped my sophomore year “boyfriend” in a very cruel manner and subsequently dealt with the kind of karma you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy. What I wish I had known was that it was completely okay to be single in high school. That while other people may look like they’re in love, you really aren’t missing out on THAT much. That this relationship will be so tiny and minuscule to whatever you will experience in your 20s. Love exists beyond lunch period. It will be waiting for you after graduation.
6. It’s not the end of the world. Really. Seriously.
EVERYTHING that happened in high school was basically a MASSIVE DISASTER. “OMG I have a zit and Johnny is picking me up in 20 minutes, I’ll never find love again, whyyyy.” Honestly? Your life is not over, and Johnny wont even notice that zit while trying to feel you up at the Sonic drive in. Even ACTUAL problems like losing friends, getting rejected to your dream college, experiencing depression — all these emotions pass. They don’t last forever. (After all, they have to make room for more problems in your 20s. It’s a never-ending cycle.)
7. There is a reason why 18 is not be the legal drinking limit.
This is coming from a rebel extraordinaire, but as soon as I turned 21, I looked around and realized that having drunk 18 year olds in bars is a nightmare. Even with my fake ID, I acted like an idiot and should not have been allowed access to massive amounts of alcohol and bad decisions in one room. Rebel in your own way, but try to at least be smart about it. You don’t have to drink, and you don’t have to be an idiot when you do.
8. If someone nice comes along and asks you on a date, GO.
I know I have told you that love is minuscule in high school but at the same time some people meet their soul mates at this wee ripe age. Everyone has a different path, after all. I was clearly not meant to date anyone in high school, but there were guys that I thought “what if” about. Now I wish I hadn’t been such a stuck up snob and purposely told some guys “no” because I was worried what others would think. Its so dumb because most of the guys I meet now — who are amazing, extraordinary men both in friendships and relationships — were not necessarily the “cool, popular” guys in high school. You never know until you give them a chance. 
