50 Things That High School Taught Me
From Fresh Meat to High School Grad
The best 4 years of your life.
From a young age, the idea of high school stands on a pedestal. It is everything and once we make it to high school our lives will be complete.
This pedestal was set in place by movies like High School Musical.
So when it came time for me to begin my freshman year, I entered a loop of reality. High school was a whole new world but it was nothing like HSM.
But high school wasn’t all bad — not what I thought it would be, but not bad.
After reflecting on the many free hours provided to me by Ms. Corona. I came up with a list of things that I learned during my years in the American high school world.
Personal
Time does heal if you allow it
Time is an odd concept and it hurts my brain to try to understand it. But time allows you to reflect and learn from your pain.
Everything is a learning curve and time emphasizes that.
How you feel about yourself is all that matters
The thoughts and ideas that go through your head 24/7 are the ones that you need to focus on. Self-confidence comes from you actively supporting and loving yourself.
The thoughts and ideas of others hold no currency when it comes to building your view of yourself. So do not rely on the thoughts and ideas of others for self-validation.
I know this concept is a hard one to practice, but it is one of the most important things that I have learned.
My self-confidence is nowhere near as solid and firm as I would like it to be but I do practice my confidence by doing a few simple and easy little things.
- giving myself compliments in the mirror — look at yourself in the eye and start off with complimenting your eyes and then going on to other parts of yourself (physical and intellectual)
- wearing clothes that make me feel good — wear clothes that you like allows yourself to have a foundation of confidence to build off of
- doing an activity that I love and feel good doing — adds to the foundation of confidence
To be clear, these activities don’t mean automatic self-confidence. Your confidence will build over time and will be something that will always need tending to.
Stay strong in your beliefs
Put lines in the sand to show your boundaries.
Once, your boundaries are set, do not allow others to push you past those lines. Do not allow peer pressure to persuade you to cross your lines.
But, do remember that it is okay to erase your lines and redraw them. This is all a part of growing and learning who you are and where you stand in the world. But only erase your lines because you want to, not because someone is making you.
Everyone is insecure
I have had many thoughts like: “Ooo, I bet they think I look weird” or “What if blah blah thinks I look weird in this top even tho I love this top??”
And after those thoughts, I have realized that blah blah is thinking those exact thoughts.
Everyone else is too worried thinking about what others think of them, to even think about you. So don’t worry about what others are thinking because they aren’t thinking.
Life goes on — don’t focus on the what if’s
Focusing on the “what ifs”, you miss everything that is happening in the current moment.
Life will happen and sometimes it will hurt. But find the lesson and continue moving.
The world turns at a snail’s pace but our minds run fast
The world changes at a snail’s pace but as humans, we pivot and evolve faster than you can say “High School Musical”.
You can see this in the way the world is implementing Artificial Intelligence. AI is advancing fast because humans are constantly working on it. But it is slowly being implemented into the world and half the time the average person doesn’t even realize that the smartphone they hold in their hands is a form of AI.
Water is your body’s best friend
Water makes up approximately 60% of your body
Water comprises 73% of your brain and heart.
And your lungs are about 83% water.
So…drink your aqua.
Emotions are valuable
Emotions are seen as these weak feelings that we should push down and hide.
But really they are something that everyone experiences and feels. So this is an easy way to connect with other people.
Be in touch with your emotions and understand that they are powerful in being able to connect and communicate with others.
Listen to understand, not to respond
Listen and understand → self-explanatory.
Reflecting allows for clarity
By looking back on experiences and situations that you have gone through, you are to find the lessons. And these lessons will allow you to grow and be at peace with your past.
Which will result in a sense of clarity and simplicity.
Be spontaneous
Go on that random road trip to Utah and visit a new national park that you didn’t know existed.
Go to the new restaurant that everyone is screaming about.
Sign up for that play that you have been too nervous to leap for.
Sunscreen is a blessing, not a burden
You can get skin damage from things other than only a sunburn from the sun.
Example: the device you are currently reading this article on.
- Your device screen emits “blue light” (high-energy visible light or HEV). Which could potentially be just as damaging as sun exposure. Some studies have hinted that the effects can be even stronger among people with darker skin for blue light has been shown to cause hyperpigmentation and skin darkening.
So, the 1–2 minutes that it takes to put on sunscreen is worth it.
Shit happens so figure out how to make the most of it
You can not control what happens around you but you can control how you react.
Hair is hair
If you cut your hair, it will grow back.
If you dye your hair, it will grow out and return to your natural color.
Don’t worry about your hair because it will return.
The brain is 10x more powerful than we give it credit for
If the human brain can develop mathematics, a language of numbers and letters out of nowhere. Then, the human brain can do anything if it wants to.
Take advantage of that. You are stronger and smarter than you give yourself credit for.
Communication is super important in everything you do
The skill of understanding and explaining what you are feeling or experiencing is important. This level of understanding will result in smooth relationships, friendly and romantic.
Don’t allow yourself to be dismissed— speak up
No matter how quiet or uncomfortable you might be, do not allow others to dismiss your ideas and thoughts.
Be confident in your ideas and thoughts.
Don’t allow yourself to stand aside.
Happiness starts from within
If you portray yourself as the person that everyone else wants you to be then you will never be happy.
Once, you accept who you are and embrace who you are then you will experience a warm feeling of happiness.
Be true to you
This concept screams Pinterest to me. So I never cared to take it to heart till recently.
But being dead serious, there is only one of you in the world of 8 billion people. So be the best version of yourself.
Don’t limit your life based on your physical appearance
Your physical appearance is the most shallow feature of you. You are full of beautiful complex qualities. Why do you only focus on the simplest quality you have?
Don’t focus on it.
Focus on all the other things that make you the unique person that you are.
Get out of your head — overthinking is no help to you
Overthinking leads to second-guessing which leads to hesitating. And hesitating leads to no spontaneous actions.
Borrowing Nike’s slogan: Just Do It.
Don’t over-analyze it, just go for it.
Value yourself
As a human, you are valuable.
Your mind is valuable. Your thoughts are valuable. Your ideas are valuable. Everything about you is valuable because you are a unique complex person.
Be patient
The best things come to those who are patient — underrated for being the truth.
Trust the process of life and be willing to wait for the award that you will receive for all your hard work.
Believe in yourself more than anyone else
No matter how much others believe in you. If you do not believe in yourself then you will not go after your goals and dreams.
Much sure that your bucket of self-belief is full every morning.
Be an active listener
When having a conversation with someone, be completely present, and detail-oriented. Focus on what that person has to say and why they are talking about that certain topic.
This goes for more serious conversations. But it’s a good thing to practice during every conversation that you have.
You only get 1 shot at life so make the best of it
The present moment happens once, no redos.
Make sure that you have no regrets at the end of the day. Make sure that you feel like you have made the most of the card deck that is in your hands.
Romanticize your life right now
Treat everything in your daily life like it is from a foreign rom-com.
Beautiful, Eccentric, and Whimsical.
Your first cup of coffee in the morning is beautiful.
Reading a new book while snuggled up in your bed is eccentric.
Dancing to your favorite song on your playlist is whimsical.
Look forward to every little moment in your life because those are the moments to live for.
Relationships
Friends come as individuals, not in groups
It is hard to be able to connect with a group of people. But in a one-on-one setting, you are more comfortable with opening up and being vulnerable. Making the base of friendships formed on comfortability and vulnerability.
Reminder: it is okay to not have a HUGE group of friends that are all “friends” with each other. You will see that those big friend groups are not as friendly to each other as they may seem. At least from my personal experience…
Healthy relationships come with maturity
A lot of things come with maturity. But healthy relationships are the biggest thing that I have experienced.
The ability to communicate and understand different perspectives allows for a healthy environment that your relationship (friendly and romantic) to grow and thrive. Yet, the skill and nature of these qualities grow as you grow as a person.
Practice listening to understand. This will strengthen your skills in communication and understanding different perspectives.
Small moments important
The small moments in life are often overlooked but they are critical in relationships of all types. Small moments like grocery shopping together, dancing in the car, or kicking rocks as you walk.
These moments are the moments to cherish and hold onto for the rest of your life. I have learned that these moments are the moments to live and love for.
Identify the small moment in your relationship(s). Begin to cherish them — they don’t last forever, unfortunately.
Practice perspective
Perspective (noun): a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view.
ex. “most textbook history is written from the editor’s perspective”
Being able to see the world from someone’s else eyes is underrated.
By practicing perspective, you can unlock a whole new view of the world. You can understand why a certain person may react the way they do. Or why a certain culture has the traditions that it does. You can relate to those who you may not even realize that you could not communicate with.
Love yourself before anyone else
The statement — you have to love yourself before you can love anyone else — is the truth.
How do you expect yourself to love anyone if you don’t even love yourself? You can’t.
Only after being comfortable and happy in your skin and who you are, then you can be happy with another.
World/Culture
Be open to new ideas
There are so many ideas and concepts out there that are new and exciting. So why limit yourself to traditional and repetitive ideas and concepts?
Put yourself out there to learn about all the new ideas that you can — be a sponge.
High school is not everything
High school is 4 years of the average 72.6 years life span that humans have.
Those 4 years are not the end of the world or the whole world.
You will be fine and you will make it through — life is better after high school.
You don’t have to go to school to learn
The idea that you can only learn in a classroom setting is the biggest lie of the 21st century.
You can learn anywhere you possibly want to. There are lessons in everything you do. All you need is a little spark of curiosity and determination and you can learn anything in the world that you can.
The world is beautiful — don’t trash it
The world is full of complex creatures and ecosystems that have so much life and resources that provide to the necessity of animals and the physical beauty of it. And the fact that we trash this complex earth blows my mind.
Love the earth and take care of her — we only have one version of her.
People are beautiful
Every individual out of the 7.594 billion-ish that is on earth is unique. Every individual has a complex story that makes them who they are.
Those individual stories are beautiful.
Strive to find the lessons and beauty in every single person’s story that you meet.
Everyone has a background story — those stories matter
This goes along with the statement above.
A person’s background story helps shape them. Those stories are important to that person’s perspective of the world and those around them.
Be quiet and watch the world for peace & beauty
The world is beautiful.
Take some time out of your day and watch how she works.
Professional/Work/Future
Avoid arguments — focus on debates
Arguments only lead to frustration and stress. Have debates instead.
Debates lead to compromise and understanding — the only effective way to get anything done.
Learning is fun when you are learning at your own pace
Everyone learns differently. Only a small percentage of people fit into the learning type that American schools are built around. So don’t get frustrated when you can’t learn the way the school is attempting to teach you.
Figure out what learning type fits you the best by taking this test. Afterward, alter the learning environment to benefit you.
You must strive to achieve your goals
Whether it is subconsciously or consciously, you have to keep your goals in mind. Every decision you make has to help you achieve your goals.
Keep your goals in the back of your head — think about them often.
Dreams are ideas without plans to get there
The concept of making your dreams come true is misleading. You don’t make dreams come true, you complete your goals.
Make a plan with detailed steps on how you are going to make your dreams (aka goals) come true. Then work on completing those steps.
You are not too young to solve the world’s biggest problems
Don’t allow your age to stop you. Go for it and figure it out.
If not you, then who is going to do to?
If it’s still a problem then that means all the older people who are working on it couldn’t figure it out. So you can.
There’s a lesson in every situation
This concept seems so obvious like “Of course, you can learn from everything you have been through, duh”
But have you ever actually sat down and reflected on your experience and what you could learn from it?
I know I hadn’t until I practiced reflecting. I started by reflecting on my weeks. So every week I would sit down and go over everything that happened that week — the good and the bad, all of it. I focused on weekly reflections but if I had a bad or rough day, I would shift and do a daily reflection.
Start by reflecting weekly. List out the little things that you may have realized or learned. Be sure to keep track of those things and practice the things that you learned.
Start small
RoMe WaSn’T bUiLt In A dAy.
As annoying as it is to repeat that line over and over again, it’s very true.
Elon Musk didn’t create Tesla in a day. It took him 17 YEARS to get where he is now.
The designer clothing brand Gucci didn’t get on the red carpets in a day. It took that brand since 1921 and MANY different head designers.
Elon and Gucci are the perfect examples of focusing on something small and dominating in that profession or market. And then going on to dominate bigger things.
Say “Thank you” to given feedback
It can suck to get feedback, especially if you don’t want any.
But being able to accept the feedback and tell the person “Thank you” with a genuine smile is not only the kind thing to do, but it also boosts your drive and passion the prove that person wrong.
So take that feedback with a smile and a “Thank you” and turn around and prove them wrong.
Accept all of the feedback given
Accept the feedback and use the feedback. But understand that everyone views things a tad differently from everyone else, so what may be good for one person can be awful for another and you just have to practice figuring out what feedback to go with.
It may be hard to figure out at first but I had to practice implementing feedback from people that I look up to ask for advice from. Then I started to implement feedback from people who were in the same boat as me.
Done projects are better than perfect projects
This statement holds as long as the project is done with high standards.
So get that work done, stop sitting on it and waiting for it to be “perfect”.
Release it into the world and let the world discover how amazing you are!!
Being uncomfortable is in your head
The idea of being uncomfortable is something that your head makes up to keep you safe. To keep you in your comfort zone, a place where you can’t get hurt or fail.
But that comfort zone also means that you can’t grow in it. If you keep yourself in an environment that you feel safe and sheltered in, then you will never have the guts to take a leap and go after that opportunity that you want because that leap means there’s a chance of falling. But potential fall is only a chance to learn and grow.
So take the leap and if you fall, find the lesson in your fall and leap again.
These 50 lessons/concepts were a pain in the butt for me to learn and come from some very low places throughout my high school career. But hopefully, these points hit home for you and that you learn from the lessons that I learned.
I want to make it clear that I didn’t learn or understand most of these lessons until the end of my high school career. That growth pivot happened for me when I got out of my comfort zone and joined The Knowledge Society.
So to grow exponentially similar to how I did, I recommend you get out of your comfort zone, talk to new people, learn new things (pottery, technology, acting, anything), find a community that will support you, and challenge yourself in ways that you never have before!
