By Staff
For those of us too old or too embarrassed to remember much about high school, this week’s graduation of area high-school seniors revived some good and not-so-good memories.
Let’s begin with the good ones: sports, girls (or boys), flirting, parties, hanging with friends after school or on weekends, getting our driver’s licenses and first cars, sneaking into movie theaters, sneaking out of gym class, hitting the beach to surf or play volleyball on the last day of school before summer.
Hmmm. Anything else happen that was good?
Algebra?
Yikes, no.
History?
Are you kiddin’?
English, biology, chemistry, French, calculus, typing (yes, some of us took typing)?
No way.
That’s what we thought, then. Our goals were to glide though class with the least amount of energy and be satisfied to pass by the skin of our teeth.
What a waste.
It’s funny, isn’t it, how time tempers what we found so disagreeable back then?
Though last week belonged to our area’s graduates — who worked long and hard to receive those caps and gowns — this message is for current high-school students.
It’s impossible to know today, but some of you will look back 30 years from now (or much sooner) and realize what a tremendous gift high school was, and that you’ll never get it back.
Some of you will realize that in your zeal to escape the school’s confines, you cheated yourselves out of an invaluable experience.
Don’t make that mistake. In addition to Friday night football and basketball games, social events, weekend trips to the beach, and so on — take time to hit the books.
A lot of you have already figured out the value of knowledge for the sake of knowledge — and for “A” grades, to boot — and that’s because you’re already smarter than some of us were when we haunted our high-school campuses.
And maybe you won’t get “A” grades, even if you try your hardest. That’s OK. Do your best, enjoy what you’re learning, and good things will come of it.
There aren’t many do-overs in life. Graduating from high school is certainly a laudable goal, but what you get out of those years will last you the rest of your life far beyond the cap and gown. Put effort into it.
You’ll thank yourself 30 years down the line.
Believe it.