extremely specific and irrelevant soup for the teenage soul

    To be honest, I thought last week’s blog was the last one so I tried to put my final reflections on my high school experience in that one. Yesterday, I stayed up with one of my friends until 4 AM rambling on and on about anything we could think of. We spent a long time looking back on a lot of old memories and what we learned from them. 

Here are some lessons I’ve learned in each grade:

9th grade:

1. Don’t get into a drawn-out group chat fight like you’re stuck in middle school. If there’s a problem, talk in person and save everyone the inevitable misery. 

2. That free meditation app isn’t some panacea to all your troubles. (The paid version might be but who has that kind of money??) Rely on your friends and talk to them.

3. For the love of God, please stop posting every single second of your life to Snapchat. But take a ton of pictures because you'll love looking back at them. 

4. A tip for attracting a new friend: Stand awkwardly in the corner and look “interesting and standoffish” with streaky green hair. 

5. Don’t make a minute-by-minute itinerary before going on a trip because realistically, nothing will go to plan and no one needs a google doc saying “wear the Star Wars shirt today.”

 

10th grade:

1. You deserve people who don’t take you for granted. Seems kinda obvious in hindsight, right?

2. Nothing stays the same from one year to the next. Your expectations are only going to end in disappointment if you can’t handle any change.

3. Also, change can be good? You might end up adopting a new friend who also stood awkwardly in the corner. You can have streaky pink hair together. 

4. Cats legitimately make you a happier human being. 

5. Improvement is a messy process that takes a lot of effort. Most of the time, it’s worth it. (But a gamble isn’t the same as a guarantee)  

11th grade:

1. Think things through before rushing into them.

2. Stop loading up your schedule only to get overwhelmed later because wow, it’s loaded up. But, sometimes it is worth it—at least according to highly selective memory. 

3. Develop new routines and appreciate the little consistencies they offer when you find yourself floating in a realm of uncertainty. 

4. Don’t assume everyone hates you because they haven’t texted in a while. I mean, when’s the last time you texted them??

5. Be extra with/for the people you love. Dance in the rain, set up an elaborate picnic, buy that wig for murder mystery night.

12th grade:

1. Just accept you’re living vicariously through TV and book characters. You’ve been doing it since 5th grade.

2. When you’re irrationally freaking out about your future is not the best time to apply to a bunch of jobs. (It’s effective though)

3. Take up many hobbies. Be bad at most of them. Abandon most of them. At least you know how to crochet in theory now...and those clay earrings would have worked if the clay wasn’t actually non-bake clay that melted into the pan and filled the oven with fumes.

4. Stay hydrated but also not too hydrated right before a pre-employment drug test because apparently there IS a thing as too hydrated. (see #2 for “irrationally freaking out about the future and applying to a bunch of jobs”)

5. Try to remember all the unexpectedly beautiful memories this year brought with all the ugly. Do little things for yourself. Stay up until the crack of dawn writing “future you” a letter. Keep staying afloat. 

Here's to the next round of our lives