Whoa there. Hold Your Horses. by Lauren

Whoa there. Hold Your Horses. by Lauren - April 2016 Scholarship Essay

When I sat in class today, I watched a group of younger students gab and gossip and guffaw about countless problems they were having in their high school experience from teachers to bullies to difficult assignments. I sat and listened to them in a stupor of furtive awe: two years, a year, maybe even six months before today, I would have joined in their discussion gladly. I would have taken my seat in this angsty Socratic seminar and complained alongside my underclassman peers about all of the problems with our school administration and bland, greasy cafeteria food. Instead, I had an epiphany: as an underclassman, it's so easy to forget that there is an entire world outside of your classroom and your immediate group of friends. Being a senior in high school, the college application and acceptance process has taught me a lot about just how enormous this world can be. Just a few days ago, I put down my enrollment deposit and officially declared where I was going to school. I officially begun the path to an incredible future. So I stared today with a gaping mouth at these students, complaining, griping about this, that and the other, and all I wanted to say was: Whoa there. Hold your horses. This town really is big enough for the two of you.
I'd say that to my younger self, too. I wish I would have understood when I was younger just how enormous and complicated life was outside of high school. If I would have taken a moment to step back every once and a while and see the big picture of my life instead of getting caught up in pathetic worry and rage, I probably would have been a lot happier. Take high school one day at a time. Enjoy it! Make the most of your time there. Focus on the things that bring you joy. The world is huge, and soon it's going to swallow you whole and you're going to spend the rest of your days gorging yourself on the nectar of life. Most of the things that hurt your or ticked you off in high school are not going to matter. Let go of friends that mistreat you. Brush off the teacher that doesn't respect you. Brush off the bullies that demean you or the crushes that don't like you back. When you get your diploma, all you have left is the future. Make sure that the little bits of the past you keep in the lockbox of your memory give you joy.