Have you ever heard the saying, “High school is the best part of your life, enjoy it while you can?” If not, consider thinking about what really gives high school this label of spontaneous fun and pleasure. Our adolescent years are viewed to be important because of the spontaneity these years present. Experts also tell us that this is a vital time for our social development.
Still, some argue high school does little to define who we truly become. Granted, many consider high school a huge component of our identity, but many disagree, pointing out that that the real world has a lot to offer beyond cool outfits and popular cliches. A common idea that has been passed around is how all the cool kids who “peak” in high school never achieve that same level of satisfaction in their adult years. While there’s no real evidence on this one way or the other, these debates illuminate how shallow things are in this period of our lives. Our teenage lives are shallow, in the sense that we care too much about little things that wouldn’t matter in the outside world, whether it be through Instagram followers or any number of other trivial things. In the real world life is different.
High school is primarily a battle for popularity, and without being seen with such status, many feel insignificant. They may project that their adult lives will be just as insigificant.Popular kids may seem themselves as on the fast track to success, while those lower on the teen social ladder fall fear remaining on the bottom of society’s social hierarchy. Other, though, see a brighter future for the “geeks” of the world. These contrasting views of life after high school are explored by Ralph Keyes in Is There Life After High School? The real world is far more nuanced than the high-school, not to mention far more unpredictable. It may be most true that success in the real-world is shaped by grit and perseverance, concepts that are independent on their own.
