Every year, there are countless movies, songs, news, and other public things that portray what high school is like. For as long as I can remember, I have always looked up to high school because my sisters were there during my childhood. I always believed high school was this very happy place and everyone was simply really cool. In September of last year, I entered Ramapo High School with excitement and finally relieved that it was finally my turn to be one of the cool kids that I have always looked up to. Let’s just say high school was not at all what I expected. One thing I was certainly surprised with was how nice the seniors were. They weren’t necessarily extremely kind but they most definitely weren’t shoving me into lockers like they do to freshman in the movies. If I had to sum up what high school is like, I would say it’s a place where you begin to feel very independent, you get a taste of what reality is like, and most of all, you realize who you are.
Growing up in Wyckoff, I usually spent my time playing at the park and if I wasn’t doing that I was most likely playing Angry Birds on my moms iPad. When I came to Ramapo last September, things quickly changed and I found myself getting into certain things that not everyone of my friends did. Independence came from beginning to realize who you are. You discover things about yourself and you become interested with what your capable of doing.  Going to a regional school, I also became very interested in meeting new people. I enjoyed how I got to meet a lot of Franklin Lakes kids because even though I liked my Wyckoff friends very much it was nice to have a little change in things. Soon enough, I was in a group that was evenly mixed with both towns. One thing I realized is that I found that the group I was in was part of who I was. I would never say this group completely defines who I am, but it definitely shaped my in certain ways like the humor I have, what I enjoy doing on weekends, and how I do things regarding my group like playing basketball every Tuesday with them. Within my group, I found people who are more similar to me. Although nobody in my group completely defines me, they expose parts of me that I never knew. The reason why I believe high school helps you find out who you are is become you meet so many new people and these people expose you in good or bad ways. It’s ironic how you become so much more social than you were in middle school but at the very same time you become much more independent. That is other reason why I think high school makes you independent because even though you are exposed to so many different type of people, you begin to cherish more of sometimes being alone.
One of the first things I noticed when I came into high school was that it was a completely different world from the one I just left. In middle school, if I had missed an assignment or did poorly on an assessment, teachers would often reach out to me and help me step by step to figuring out. On the other hand, you are actually responsible and you have to constantly be ahead of yourself. Teachers do offer help in high school, but if you don’t want to try, they certainly won’t try for you, why would they? That is one of the biggest realizations I have ever had. I realized in the real world, nobody ever really just hands you anything. Also, nobody has time to constantly be pushing you without any benefit for themselves. Along with reality is the extreme drama you begin to see and eventually deal with. Drama is so intensified in high school because of what I mentioned before. Everyone is beginning to find themselves, and everyone starts to become more unique and independent. Real relationships form, teenagers discover their sexuality, and their personality. Although high school may be a very intensified version of drama in the real world, it still is the first time you are exposed to it.
In conclusion, high school the most substantial stage of development and you begin to form the person you will be for the rest of your life. Although it’s a time of stress, it is an important time for everyone because its one of the last steps before being exposed to reality. No movie, song, or anything can completely portray what high school is like because it is a completely different experience for everyone. When I first came to Ramapo, I was very excited for things that weren’t exactly what they were when I viewed them growing up. Not every high schooler is just a really cool kid that knows what he or she is doing, everyone faces struggles and stress every day in high school. Although these struggles can be rough, there is still a lot to be excited about and it is definitely an experience I feel is needed for the future that lays ahead.