Thoughts of a Missionary's Daughter

My nostoglic thoughts

     I hear a song on the radio this morning which got me thinking about high school. 'Verge' by Owl City came out a few weeks before I graduated last year and it perfectly captured the emotional hype and the giddiness I felt. I found myself singing along as I drove to college, it got me really thinking of High School. Funny how a song can bring back memories of a part of your life. I found myself strangely missing high school but at the same time, I felt relieved I was done with it. Let me explain.

     High school wasn't a bad experience for me or anything, but it wasn't exactly the best time of my life. I moved to Houston Texas in third grade, which is when I met my best friend. But I moved to Brazil a few weeks before finishing fifth grade. Middle school was a blur and before I knew it I was in high school in Houston again. I somehow managed to skip the sixth grade so when I got back to Texas all my childhood friends were still in middle school and I would have to start high school on my own. To say it was hard on me was an understatement. I was absolutely pissed that I couldn't stay in the same grade as my best friend. Looking back on it I see how stupid I was, why would I want to do another year of school? If I had a time machine I would go back and slap 14-year-old me upside the head. It turned out fine, I joined choir and made 'friends' in the matter of weeks. But of course that didn't last long. Halfway through freshman year, I had to pack up my bags and move to Mexico. Mexico is a whole other story but to summarize I was home schooled so I would have to learn another language and get held back. I somehow kept in touch with my best friend through it all and but lost contact with everyone else. O wasn't too surprised with my parents told me that we were moving back to Texas halfway through my junior year. Going back was pretty weird, I saw the kids from elementary school grow up to be....well crappy people. My best friend, Ariane, couldn't be happier that I was back and surprisingly the friends I met in Choir remembered me. The rest of my junior year consisted of me trying to figure out what the heck I was going to do about college.

     Senior year was by far the best out of the erratic four years. I realized that I wanted to be a psychologist and came to terms with going to community college in order to save money. I made a few more friends here and there, turned down two guys, went to one party, and went on on the choir spring trip. Prom was an interesting event but only because of what it symbolized. It was my first and last school dance and I went with Ariane and a good friends of mine. My dad, surprisingly spent two hundred dollars on my gorgeous blue strapless prom dress. The night was fun, it was one of the last things I would do with my class before everyone went their separate ways. In a blink of an eye I was on stage, wearing my green graduation cap and gown accepting the peace of paper some old white man was giving me. I tried not to focus on the fact that announcer mispronounced my name but I mean come on! It's Natalia not Natalie there is not 'ee'. I somehow managed to to trip and fall in my black six inch heels. The whole graduation experience was surreal. The called out four hundred names and I recognized maybe fifty at best.

     That wasn't the last of it though, that very night the school had a lock in for the graduates. There was a haunted house, karaoke room, bull riding in the gym alone with obstacle courses, mini golfing, dance party, games, and free food. I can honestly say that was so much more fun than prom. I shrugged off my shyness and found myself randomly talking to people I knew I would never see again. By the time it was 6:00 am I was tired and left the school without a second glance. I was the first person to leave and I'm not sure what happened afterward.

     That's the gist of my high school experience. Sure a few embarrassing resign moments here and there but that last night is what still stand out to me. Strange how some people cry about leaving high school and I left without even looking back. Maybe it's because I never really connected with anyone there. Sure I had friends but I have come to realize that they were just people who are forced to hang out with you because you see them five times a week. Maybe it's because I fell off the grid when I took a semester off and went to live in Mexico on my own but I didn't keep in touch with anything.

     I guess what I'm trying to get at is that high school is just a small fraction of the rest of your life. I can't wrap my head around the fact that it was merely a year ago, it feels like a lifetime ago. People make high school seem like such a big deal but...it wasn't. Pretty anti-climactic huh? It doesn't make it any less true. I saw how people got so caught up in the teen drama that it ruined their lives before it even began. Some girls in my school got pregnant, had miscarriages, or ended up in dead end relationships. Some guys in my school went to prison, dropped out of school, or died. I never understood why people didn't take a step back to see the whole picture rather then 'live in the moment'. There should be a balance between being a good student and being able to enjoy high school life.

High school is a fraction of the rest of your life, and o knew that when I was in high school, so little things didn't bother me. I stayed focused on my studies because I knew that put on the verge of the rest of my life.