Tomorrow is the big day. The end of 15 years of public schooling (preschool-high school) and the start of something more. I really never thought I would make it this far. The shy little girl sucking her thumb, to the grown young women ready to take the world by storm. From peeing in her pants in preschool (I was to shy to knock on the bathroom door...) to being accepted into my number one school. As I sit here now, I wonder where my life will take me in the next 4 years and beyond. I hope to God I learned enough to get me started, but I know that the real learning has only just begun. School can't prepare you for the real world, no, not at all. You learn how to live and navigate your life outside of the classroom and through the experiences you have, people you meet, and challenges you face.
My years in school were not easy, but are they for anyone? Of course, now I can look back on the silly challenges that came up and think of how simple some things were. Like being so shy in kindergarten that I wouldn't sing the alphabet with everyone else so my teacher called my mom and made me take out special ABC books from the library to "study". Or having so much difficulty with spelling that on a 3rd grade spelling test I only got 3 correct. My teacher called me over to scold me and I burst in to tears. How about those horrible gym periods where I would just try to cringe and hid in the corner, but still inevitably get smashed in the face with a dodge ball.
But then there are the harder challenges and events to look back on. The hellish years starting in 6th grade to 8th grade. Being bullied by people I once called friends. Losing the few I had, since most of my time outside of school was spent at dance. Not knowing who I would stand with or sit with on that field trip, so instead I played hooky. Being called "emo" (what the hell does that even mean?) because I was more quiet than the rest and I wore make-up before most and maybe liked a few black shirts. Or how about being called a slut because I started talking to a boy my former friend had "dated" (in whatever sense you can call 7th grade dating).
High school wasn't much easier. Of course I went in with high hopes of meeting a much broader range of kids than just the 68 I had been with my whole life. Freshman year was okay. I did make a group of friends, only I made friends with the wrong group. I had to slowly detach myself from them as they turned their back on me. Then I knew I was in it alone for the rest of the way. Now, I like being alone, don't get me wrong, I am the definition of an introvert. However, when things like group projects come up, who will pick you to be with them? Who will you sit with in the sea of lunch tables in the cafeteria? Who will you go with to that school dance? (I only ever went to my Freshman homecoming). Who will you talk to when you just need that tiny bit of support before you get up and give a huge presentation. Who will be your partner in gym to be your counter during the sit-up test? (Why can't teachers just assign kids together!).
But the thing is, you learn not to worry about these things. Or at least know that you have gotten through them before, each and every time. Alone, but with your head held high. You learn how to navigate these situations and get out of the ones that you can avoid. You may end up sitting by yourself on the last day of school in the cafeteria, knowing that next year you will just fill your schedule with classes so you won't have to worry about having a lunch period. You learn that it's okay to just focus on your studies through your four years and get everything you can out of your education instead of worrying about teenage drama. You avoid it, stay out of it, so you won't get hurt.
In the end the AP history tests you aced, the math quizzes you failed, and the recitation of Latin lines you stumbled through, don't really prepare you for anything. The whole experience of school, what happens in and outside all comes together in to the culmination of lessons learned and experiences had. I am going off into the unknown on a crazy adventure and I am just hoping that the struggles I've had, the education I did receive, are enough to lead me to success. I am so scared for what is to come. I can't pin point exactly what I am scared about, I guess it is just the unknown. But I am also not scared, I am excited, anxious, hopeful. Something I don't have the words for, that is how I feel right now.
I am graduating from high school. I have achieved something that many people don't. I have gotten to a moment in my life that I have waited for for so long. I may have been bruised, scarred, hurt. But I have come out and finished standing strong, tall, confident, and ready to take what will be thrown at me next. When I receive my diploma tomorrow, I will let out a huge sigh of relief. I will go to bed that night and wake up the next morning knowing that maybe my schooling experience wasn't what I had thought it would be. Maybe it wasn't perfect, but it must have happened for a reason. It prepared me for something more. Something I have yet to even grasp in my mind. I will wake up that next morning knowing I will no longer have to just "make it through" one more day. I will be a high school graduate and I will be an incoming Colonial. An incoming Colonial with ideas in her head, opinions to be expressed, that fresh hope of having her chance to change the world. I will be the girl with the experiences, the stories, the courage, the drive, the toughness, the confidence, the will to make her life exactly what she wants it to be no matter what.
I am strong. I am me. I am a high school graduate. I am a survivor. I am now a Colonial.
So tell me:
+ Was you schooling years everything you thought it would be?
+ What did you learn about yourself by the time you graduated from high school?
*I am linking up with Amanda’s Thinking Out Loud today, because this is me, just thinking out loud, however confusing this post may be, it is just what came out when I put fingers to keys.*
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Samara @ Kor Fit & Living Well
Congratulations on graduating! It's nice to see you looking forward to college! I am sure you will find your crew and enjoy the years to come! Keep being you and living life!
Strength and Sunshine
Aw, thank you so much Samara! And thank you for the support XOXO
Sarah Beacom
Congratulations on graduating! I just attended my little brother’s high school graduation. It’s crazy to think mine was already 5 years ago. Time will fly from here on out for you!
I think what I learned most once I graduated high school and moved on to college was that appearance wasn’t everything. High school is a place where one must fit in to some sort of social circle and hope to be accepted by their school body. In college, that doesn’t matter. You learn to be friends with whomever you click with, regardless of their social circle preferences. I became more willing to wear what I wanted and hang where I wanted without worrying what others would think. Now’s the time to branch out and learn who YOU really are in the next four years.
Good luck! You’re going to enjoy it. 🙂
Strength and Sunshine
Thank you and congrats to your brother!
I've already embraced who I am and my interests so I think that's why high school just wasn't for me!
Lisa
Congrats on your graduation! I went to GW for law school, and I loved the location of it! You’ll definitely have a lot of fun there, and I think DC is a great place to explore where life will take you next. Feel free to send me a message if you need any recommendations for yoga studios!
Strength and Sunshine
Really!?!? Do you live there now? I will definitely send you a message later about this! 🙂 Thank you!
Lisa
It’s true! Unfortunately, I moved back to California last August or else I’d totally go to yoga classes with you!
kristenk
Congrats on graduating!!!!! High school totally sucks. I thought college way way better because most people (although not all) are no longer focused on impressing others and being popular - instead they are just trying to be themselves. Definitely join clubs to meet people with similar interests and you'll be set!
Strength and Sunshine
🙂 Thanks you Kristen! People will always be difficult no matter what stage of like they are in, but your right about us all trying to find our way! No one has it eben close to being figured out in college, we are just hoping we come out alive and with a future on the horizen!
Nichole
A huge congratulations to you love!! Tomorrow will be an amazing day:) Take in every single moment. This was such a great post going down memory lane and the points you make are so very relevant! I can't wait to hear how great graduation was. Sending vibes for good weather you way! And I can't wait to see where life takes you when you start at GWU!
Strength and Sunshine
Thank you so much Nicole! I know bigger and better things are just waiting for me around the corner! Time to move on and move up!
Erin (@girlgoneveggie)
I think you are going to love college. I hope it brings you real, true friends and way less drama than Junior High and High School! Congrats on all of your accomplishments.
Strength and Sunshine
Thank you Erin!
I am ready to take on a new journey in a whole new place and I can only hope it will be so so much better! 🙂
Yoojin Lee
congrats on graduating rebecca!
when i graduated from highschool, i was just completely excited to go into college!
now, i'm in graduate school, and all i have to say is girl, it only gets better from here.
graduating from high school is like, ending your kid years. college is where you find yourself even more, and you're just going to grow & learn from here 🙂
Strength and Sunshine
Thanks sweetheart! There is so much out there and I am so ready to experience it all!
I won't easy, but nothing is. In the end this will be worth it to and I am sure I am going to be changing and defining myself even more!
Whitney M.@ themarriedme.com
I wasn't much of a school kid. I struggled with the whole friendship thing. I was a nerdy overachiever and that made me stick out like a sore thumb. People who tell you that high school is the best years of your life are flat out crazy. I'm barely friends with anyone from my high school and I am more than okay with that. And all those people who made fun of me? I hope they like their sucky jobs because I'm already a step ahead of them in life.
Congratulations on graduation. Hint: College isn't the best years of your life either!
Strength and Sunshine
Haha, yes high school is not very fun! I don't mind in the least either that I won't be seeing any of my peers again!
College will be better I am sure, but yes, kids don't change that much in a summer! The real fun starts after college, right?! 😉 Haha
Miss Angie
Congrats on graduating! School was... different. I was a really great student until like 5th grade and then I stopped caring again until my Junior year. I wish I'd done better and then gone to college right away, but it is what it is. I'm in college now (10 years after graduating) and doing so much better than my first attempt 8 years ago.
I hate to sound cliche, but life gets so much better once you're out of high school!
Strength and Sunshine
Thank you Angie! I worked hard all my life and then totally fell to senioritis (especially this last marking period! Haha!)
But it was all worth it since I am going to the school of my dreams.
I think it is cliche that people say HIGH SCHOOL years are some of the best....haha, that is a definite no!
And good for you girl! Sometimes we just need more time to figure ourselves out and what we want, and there is no shame is going to school now! Good luck on your journey! XOXO
Amanda @ .running with spoons.
Congratulations on your upcoming graduation, girl 🙂 High school was a little easier for me, but elementary and junior high definitely weren't. I had all sorts of anxiety issues that I was dealing with, and that definitely made me isolate myself a lot more than I should have. But college is honestly a whooooole different experience, and the drama and pettiness aren't so prevalent anymore. You're going to love it 🙂
Strength and Sunshine
Thank you!!!
That's what I'm hoping/looking forward to! Not only that, but I will be in a city with do so so many new and interesting people! It will be impossible not to connect with someone like meself!