High School.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."  It was High School.

No matter how hard you try to run from it, either avoiding being of age that you must attend or running from it in that you would rather forget it, sooner or later those fortuitous years of high school will bite you in the butt.  I, of course, am no exception.  I had managed to all but forget most of the awkward experiences, bad hair, and acne until about two months ago when I decided it would be a good idea to go through a box of pictures I had tucked away in my closet.  I had completely forgotten about that box for about five years, but all of a sudden, there it was staring me in the face as I was packing for my cross-country move.

Sure, if you check my facebook you'll find that there are about 100+ people I attended high school with on my friends list, but even that wasn't enough to bring the awkward memories back; it was all thanks to that stupid, horrible box.  I find it rather apropos that two weeks before my college graduation I found myself sifting through a box of memories I hadn't looked at since my high school graduation, don't you?

That. Damn. Box.  As much as I hate it, I now thank it for the summation of the lessons I learned in high school, which I will now share with you:

1.  I was too worried about impressing everyone else than liking myself.  There. I said it.  I really was too concerned about "making friends" by "making people like me" than I was having people like me because I like myself.  It almost makes me sad to think about it.  Four years I could have spent having fun and enjoying things just because I like them was spent slightly melancholy and somewhat miserable because I couldn't understand why I had a handful of real friends, rather than the large circle I so hoped for.  I wish I'd only taken the time to truly appreciate what I'd had, since those friends are now located across the country from me.

2.  I was the kid picked last in dodgeball.  Okay maybe not literally, but I didn't get asked to my Senior Prom.  Actually, I didn't get asked to any dances at all.  Getting "left behind" while seemingly everyone I knew was asked to the Prom in one cute way or another sucked.  Lesson learned? Resilience.  Sure, I don't have a bunch of fancy pictures of me with some date, but I did pick myself up, dust myself off and went anyway.  Maybe I didn't have a date, and maybe it was a bit less fun than it could have been because of it (or maybe not), but at least I know what I would have missed out on.  Also, I got to hang out with some of the nicest people I could have imagined and their dates that night (shout out to Brooke and Mary).  Perhaps it wasn't prom as I would have imagined it due to my Saved-by-the-bell induced high school ideals (god, I miss that show), but it was mine.  And you can sure as hell bet that if/when my kids get that age I'll make sure that in the end they have a good time no matter how the situation plays out.

3.  I learned the value of hard work and how to juggle a full schedule.  I did a little bit of everything in high school, writing for the newspaper, playing a few sports and having a job once I turned 16.  I was always very busy, but somehow I found a way to fit it all in.  Oddly enough, the busier I was (within reason) the happier I was and the better I was at each thing I was involved in.  I'm not quite sure why that happened to work out that way, but I found it rather interesting that when I had no spare time my grades were at their best...

No matter how much I wish some things had gone differently, I wouldn't change them and you couldn't pay me to go back.  It doesn't matter how many experiences I've lived through that make me cringe with embarrassment (or make me wish I'd worn sunscreen or actually spent some time doing  my hair) these experiences have helped create compassion, understanding, and a work-ethic within me.  I guess it's all a case of "if I knew then what I know now," but aren't most of life's experiences?