I could list off everything I learned in my high school classes in a heartbeat. Really, lessons have been drilled into my head over the past three years that I may never forget in the near future. But the really important lessons are ones that I didn’t learn inside of a classroom. Those lessons that will remain vivid in my mind for eternity, unlike those other facts that will quickly fade from my mind with the addition of new lessons, were not taught to me the easy way. Sometimes they were lessons I had to learn by myself, other times, I was taught them by my friends. But unlike learning about Identities in math, a subject that was at many times painful, learning about confidence, loyalty, and perseverance, affected not only my mind, but my heart as well. The pain went deeper than just the superficial pain of not understanding. I had to struggle harder than I have struggled any other time. In the last year alone, I was made to stand on my own two feet for possibly the first time in my life. I had to face my own fights, and prove myself; whether I wanted to or not. I learned that sometimes it’s necessary to fight with those around you. We fought; against each other, for each other, and for ourselves. We won some, others we lost. We celebrated, we mourned. The past year was filled with ups and downs, but they only helped make me a part of who I am today. It’s difficult to accept, and I may not like it, but it’s a fact, not knowledge. I don’t have to make it fit, because the future is still wide open. Without fear we aren’t challenged. Without fear life becomes boring. I can become anything, and anyone that I want to. I can change that puzzle piece as many times as I like, until it fits just the way that I want it to.

Everything is opening for us now, and it’s scary, but sometimes you just have to walk through that door. You have to take chances, you have to move on. The biggest thing I learned in high school is that it’s okay to be afraid. It’s natural, and also very healthy. A good cry once and now isn’t a bad thing. It helps clear the senses, and helps you move on. Going into the future with fear only pushes you harder. You fight more to stay alive, and soon the fears of the past aren’t so terrifying once you realize that you can overcome them. But you don’t have to forget them. Just because you are getting older, learning something new, doesn’t mean that you still can’t enjoy those little things that you had before. Growing up is simply gaining new things, and learning to hold on to what you had. Sure there may be things that you have to let go of, like the comfort of high school, and the life it gives you, but it is never goodbye. No, never a final goodbye; because it will always be there. Like a chapter in a book, you can always go back and revisit it. It is not lost forever. So take the time. Go back, and remember. High school has taught me that you have to work hard, to make something of yourself, but you also have to take the time and look at your achievements. Those people that strive for academic success, and get it, miss out on some of the joys of high school. It isn’t all about the grades. Sitting at the top can be quite lonely. Sometimes it is better to decide to not go and study in the library at lunch, and maybe, it’s okay to skip a class once and awhile. Because those memories that you make then, during that lunch, during that missed class, are going to be more important to you in the future than a perfect score on a test, or in a class.

Along with that, stewing over something isn’t good for you. Take that from someone who has a lot of experience in that department. Seize the day, the moment; whatever you are given. Don’t let one bad moment ruin what could be a million others. Look at the bigger picture, and not only a section of it. Don’t let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game. You just have to go for what you want. Don’t worry so much about being right or wrong, don’t worry about failing, because the only way that you fail is if you don’t live life.

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