As I walk into my last day of high school I am surrounded by the same faces I have spent the last thirteen years with, their smiles and tears glistening in the morning sunlight. It feels like a scene that could be pulled straight out of High School Musical.
But the truth is, high school isn’t a Disney film. It’s much messier, more complex, and a lot more human. Don’t get me wrong, some of those classic high school stereotypes ring true. There are cliques, drama, and senior year does feel like everything I have worked for solidified into my reality. I remember the anticipation of selecting the “submit” button to my first college. Alongside other moments like Friday night lights or the cozy chaotic nature of winter break.
Then when spring came around, I found myself bombarded with the ultimately avoided question, “Where are you going to college?” and “What do you want to do with your life?” It seems to find its way into every conversation.
Oftentimes, I’ve felt expected to say a field like engineering, law or medicine. It’s linear, simple, and easy to say rather than, “I have absolutely no idea” or “I want to be a writer.” Honesty is vulnerable and raw which can be a difficult emotion to grapple with as a seventeen year old that is supposed to have an entire future mapped out. Whether the school is thirty minutes away or a six hour flight, students are expected to simply take the leap of faith and hope for the best. High School seniors who go to college barely have any context of the world. All I know is the realm and culture of Cape Cod. And better yet, my frontal lobe hasn’t even fully developed.
As young American students, dreams are supposed to be celebrated. Yet, more times than not, they are critiqued, questioned, and measured against some invisible standard of success. The American Dream has become less of a bold promise to young aspiring students like myself into a dull version of itself. My experience in high school is unique but it’s also universal.
To my fellow seniors and underclassmen still figuring it out, make your own path and take pride in it even if it isn’t ideal, direct or expected. The passion within is what puts you ahead of everyone else, not your ability to conform or check boxes to meet other people’s definitions of success. The real magic isn’t having all the answers but being brave enough to write your own story, one line at a time.
