By Michael Natelli ’14

I’ve always had an internal struggle trying to understand why I have to go to high school. I had my desired career path chosen a long time ago, and I really won’t ever use most of the information that’s been downloaded into me these last four years.

But as I stand here in the shower reflecting (because admit it, we all do that), I may have finally cracked the code. I wish I’d come to grips with this sooner because high school could’ve been far less stressful.

Despite my probable abilities to be a consistent honor roll student, I’ve always managed to put forth a GPA somewhere between a 2.7 and a 3.1. It’s not something I’m necessarily proud of. But in the grand scheme of things, it’s also something that won’t keep me up at night in the future. While the numbers may show that others learned more than I did, I feel that I’ll walk out of this building much smarter than when I walked even if it’s not in terms of book smarts.

Looking at my pictures from each of the past four years, I’ve noticed subtle changes. I’ve started standing up straighter; I’ve cut the atrociously long hair I sported my freshman year; I’ve slowly gravitated towards a new social circle. So while I wish I could leave high school with more life-applicable academic intelligence, I’ve come to realize that high school is not as much about building up your GPA as it is an opportunity for self-improvement.

High school is a chance to try new things, to work on your social skill and to learn to think on your feet by coming up with excuses for why something is late. It’s a chance to wear jean shorts because you don’t care what anyone thinks and a chance to go through that phase where you can’t even justify why you like your favorite bands. It’s a chance to work off all that awkwardness before you become an adult and go off into the real world, a chance to say things like “yolo” “turn up” and “swag” in hopes that you never do it again, a chance to try and find your niche and see where you fit into the world.

You may never use most of the information you’re taught, but if nothing else, take full advantage of this four-year purgatory between childhood and adulthood that this institution represents so you can get a better sense of self.