High School and Beyond

Whether you’re starting fresh or staring down graduation in June, whether you think these are the best years of your life or you can’t wait to escape, high school is a fact of life for most teens—and a fact that a lot of us have strong feelings about.

by Shannon Draucker, 17, Ohio

Too many tests, first cars,
Having crushes on football stars.
The prep, the jock, the Goth, the skater,
And the girl over there – everyone hates her.
Drama, tears, and friends that lie,
Times you want to break down and cry.
Hanging out and meaningful kisses,
A few too many hits and misses.
The boy that breaks everyone’s heart,
And the new romances that begin to start.
Smiles, tears, and freshman fears
Are all part of the high school years.

College
Kayla Herrera, 18
Wisconsin

I must’ve been pondering college since I entered the 9th grade. It was like a lingering curse; a dark shadow sent to hover above me until I received the final acceptance letter in the mail. I hated high school. I felt as if my state of mind was above everyone else, not in a snobby way, but from a more intellectual standpoint. I was ready to take on the experiences of college; to make friends who thought about more than just dating and petty school dances. I knew my calling was in college and my mind was blind to the present and focused on the future.

I started working at the local library in the midst of my sophomore year. There was a particular aisle I loved to hang around: the college aisle. It held books of “How to Choose the Right College,” “Saving for College the Easy Way!”, “Dorm Feng Shui,” and “The Roommate Game.” I persistently looked through a list of colleges, dreaming of being on campus on my own with my own incredible friends. I was trapped in the future.

After about a year, I grew out of that phase once I moved away from that high school. I entered a new high school environment, sort of similar to the college atmosphere. My yearnings were tame for now.

I remember asking seniors about college, such as when to apply and how to send scores. They’d grin, at me on the back and say, “Well, at least you’re thinking about it. Apply early, at the end of the summer if you can.” So I felt proud I was way ahead of some of my friends. But then they’d rest their hand gently on my shoulder and say, “But remember, high school only happens once. You blink and it’s over. So enjoy it while you can, okay?” Somehow, the sudden tightness in their cheeks and their fixed eyes made me realize they were beginning to reminisce about their life in high school; the moments they wished to relive. Those stares sent me towards my won epiphany. I realized each day spent in this high school was a day for me to savor, seeing as this was my first and last whole year in this school. Why waste these moments daydreaming about what could be? Why not enjoy what was directly under my nose at this time? Because those seniors were right, time really does fly and before I know it, I will be in college missing the simplicity of silly high school.

I am still in shock from the fact that I am now a high school senior, having watched friends before me graduate. It’s like thinking you’ll never get into a car accident or get a ticket, but one day there you are. I went from wanting to get my high school years over with to absorbing every last day that I have left, down to the very drop. My advice to fellow readers: you may not enjoy high school or have any respect for any aspect of it, but let me tell you something that I was once told: you only live once and you have one chance to make the best you can out of this experience we call high school. It’s a time when things are more simple than they grow to be (just as they were in elementary school compared to now). Sit on rooftops under the stars and chat till two in the morning or get ridiculously beautified for prom night and dance the night away because there are no magical prom nights in the real world. Time won’t slow down for you. Make the realization before it’s too late. You’ll find yourself ready to move on to college knowing you have nothing left to experience in high school.

High School Blues
Danica Zielinski, 16
New York

Let’s sing a tune
Called the high school blues
The cries of the masses
Come together for one night
To sing their tune
Across the universe of light

We tell the stories
From the pages of notebooks
Like the open diaries
The stress of tests and exams
Give our tune a quick new rhythm

We sit around the social fires
With companions and friends
Separate from other fires
Which don’t think of our existence
We share our stories and sing the same old tune

For those who have a solo fire
Sit on side liens
Join in with their own little tune
They bring a low beat
That sounds different when
We are together

The tales of lost souls
Give a mournful sound
To our high school tune
Friends of old disappear
Into the forest of memories
And the night sky of dreams

The sun almost rises
The fires have died and cooled
We leave the meeting place
Still sign our tune
Our song will go on forever
As long as there are stories

Jessica Greene, 17, Ohio

Where I Think I Am
Rachel Wiegand, 17
Washington

Words aren’t for eating but I guess I’ll swallow mine down
Try not to make a scene bide my time, I swear I won’t make a sound
There are people in every room at every angle from where I stand
Hanging in my periphery with drinks in each hand
I’m sitting on a couch in a basement, I’m suspended in your gaze
And I’m clinging to every motion, every movement of this routine phase
I’m projected like a movie on a dusty cream colored wall
And I’m debating to come to because I’m waiting for the screen to fall

I’m having trouble seeing this from your point of view
When all the lines, all the looks are right on cue
Last night I wrote a letter addressed specifically to you
I didn’t plan on sending it, but you know, plans they fall through
Everyone sits in circles, they all talk about change
How all the cliques will detach and rearrange
I’ll just sit back quietly and observe
But my thoughts were so loud I swear they overheard
We’ll be friends forever they all insist
Sure if forever’s written crooked with crooked quotations hung around it

Let’s me honest come on let’s set the record straight
We have nothing in common except our birth date
And the names of the streets that we grew up on
That’s not a good enough reason for me to work and carry this on
So I’ll detach myself yeah I’ll rearrange
And you’ll talk how it was so sudden yeah it was so strange
I’ll sit back, I’ll relax, I’ll admire the view
Because I’m still waiting for my place and purpose here to fall through

A Yearkbook of Memories
Samantha Katz, 17
New York

Somewhere between running to classes
And making sure we had those hall passes
Studying every second for that huge test
Making sure our projects were always our best

Somewhere between sneaking out late
And picking out the perfect outfit for our first date
Going to parties without best friends
Wishing the nights would never end

Somewhere between fighting with our teachers
And the cheers we shouted from the bleachers
The stress we endure while getting ready for dances
Living our life like we never had second chances

Somewhere between breakups and fights
And making sure we always had invites
The inside jokes no one else knows
Going shopping for all new clothes

All of the things that we did as a whole
The laughter that we just couldn’t control
High school was where all of our friendships were made
The place that holds the memories that I would never trade