High School Commencemorial

As the end of the school year draws near and people are creating their facebook grad party events I’m reminded of my own graduation… and it makes me mad.

So you know how the word “commencement” means an exiting of one thing into a greater thing. Like you commence from high school into the rest of your life? Well I think high school commencement planners need to look up the word or change the name of their little graduation speeches…. ’cause I’ve noticed high school commencement ceremonies are never actually about commencement.

The greatest crime of public education is its failure to prepare young adults for real life.

Two-weeks notice? What’s that? How do I write that?

Budgeting? Wow, I just have no idea.

Are you serious? I can’t just make an effort and succeed at my job? You mean I have to actually produce quality results? That’s weird.

What, I can’t do show choir for the rest of my life? I actually have to get a job and pay rent?

You mean to tell me that I can’t be a part of my high school speech team for the rest of my life? I was under the impression that high school was preparing me for the rest of my life! Apparently not.

Nope. Our high schools are so concerned with looking back at the end of it that it completely forgets to look forward. Ever.

I mean if you’re a sucker for punishment, then yeah high school was great! But in going from high school into the work force the biggest thing that I learned was that high school didn’t teach me any worthwhile skills. In fact, I learned how to slack, I got an inflated ego, and I got involved with activities that may or may not have significantly damaged some opportunities that came along. I mean I don’t know for sure, but I probably should have taken Anatomy and Physiology in high school. I probably should have learned better study habits. I probably should have applied for more scholarships and played the field a little more before settling on a college. I probably should have taken real classes my senior year and tried to get a better score on the ACT. I probably shouldn’t have spent all my savings on a European tour. I probably shouldn’t have spent all my time investing in choir and music and instead invested it in my relationship with God.

See, high schools urge students to get involved in all of these activities, but they only serve to distract them from what’s really important. The intent is to teach teamwork and how to apply oneself to a goal and succeed, but my experience was that those activities taught me how to be more immature and catty.

High school was the worst thing that happened to me, and leaving the best. I know I sound like a really resentful person who was on the wrong side of high school, and maybe that’s true, but maybe not. I wasn’t “popular” in high school, but I wasn’t that one girl. I found a place to belong and I’d like to think that by the end of my high school career some people knew who I was. I mean I see people from high school on campus sometimes and they wave at me. That counts for something, right? well no, actually, but that’s another posts problem. But the fact is that my high school years were marked by backsliding and rebellion in my heart towards God. I had a wrong wrong wrong view of myself, and I was completely unteachable.

So to all you high school graduates out there, at the moment you feel on top of the world like you can do anything you like. And that’s true, but there’s one important key to making it in the real world: humility. Treat everyone like they’re better than you (no matter if they are or not), treat every opportunity like a gift and not something you deserve, and please for the love of God walk on the right side of the sidewalk(I thought we went over this freshman year of high school!)

That is all.

P.S. I suck at all these things too, and actually occasionally find myself walking on the left side. We all have bad days. it’s okay. His mercies are new every morning!