by Katie Ng ‘25

In 7th grade, I had to write a letter to an incoming 6th grader for English class, but I was not allowed to scare them or say anything negative about Rosa Parks Middle School. I won’t sugarcoat or censor myself now though. Quite frankly, the high school years may not be your golden years.

I remember my freshman year, the boy’s bathroom outside the media center was boarded up because someone had tried to rip a sink off the wall (a devious lick). Additionally, I found out that the year before, a student had shoved a Christmas tree into a toilet in the upper H hallway bathroom and then dragged it across the hall.

Immediately, I was disillusioned with high school, and it was only my first or second week. I felt even more dissatisfied when I found out there were a whole host of other school wide issues: crumbling infrastructure, a growing mental health crisis, locked bathrooms, finding out bullying is still an issue, you name it. Some people think teens have the time of their lives in high school, but that is just not the case. It is harder than you think to romanticize school.

Because if you are like me, you took or you currently take high school way too seriously. I strived for, and I still strive for perfection. From the get go, I was worried if I was good enough for UMD, my dream school. In the end, I was accepted, but I paid the price of perfection. I stressed out and missed out on being a kid. When I think about my life, I wish I had hung out with my friends more and had more fun.

Essentially, high school is no fun when you devote all your time to academics and neglect doing anything for yourself. High school is no fun when you continuously struggle with your mental health. High school is no fun when you see glaring issues at school, and little to nothing is done to address them.

So, if you are an underclassman, or you are a younger student reading this, get a grip. Buckle up. Brace yourselves for what’s to come. But, remember, even though there is a lot to come after I graduate, nurture your interests the way I nurtured my passion for journalism and stay strong.