As long as I can remember, I've been going to school of some sort. 
First it was day care, and then nursery school, and then elementary, and
middle, and now high school.  Now, in less than two weeks, that is going
to be over for a while.  I'm about to graduate from high school, and plan
on taking some time off from school before going on to college.  It will
also be my first time really supporting myself, and my first time living
for a long period (more than a few weeks) without my parents.  It will be
quite a change, in several ways.  I am looking forward to it, although I
am more than a little nervous about how it will turn out.
        Even for those who are going on to college, graduating from high
school will be a big change.  College and high school certainly aren't the
same, and many college students also don't live with their parents.  I'm
sure somebody who is going on to college will continue that thread, so I
won't go into it here.
        I'm entering this item to talk about the changes we go through as
we leave high school, and go on to other phases in our lives.  I'm hoping
that those of us who are about to go through this, as well as those who
have already gotten out of high school and into other areas of their
lives, can share our experiences, expectations, hopes, fears, and things
like that.  What is it going to be like next year?

34 responses total.

it's not going to be that different except that eveything will have
changed.  i know that sounds wierd, but it's true.  you will find new
friends, lose some of the old, and (in my experiance) have lots of 
confusion.

I second that!  I also want to add that their is a weirdness to it... It's
(er scratch the it's)  When I left for college I changed...  Going home
was something I looked forward to, but when there I kept thinking about
going back to school.  My hometown became too small and constricting.  
It is kinda true- you can't go home again.  To be absolutely literal- yes
you can go home.  But once you live on your own- going home again is never
the same.  Sometimes that makes me sad... but I know it has to happen.
And it is a good thing too. :)

With only two days of school left, it's very hard to believe that it's
almost over.  At this point, I'm still looking forward to it more than
dreading it.

wait about two weeks,...then you'll reazlize that you just want to go back

Amen to that...It's a milestone in your life when you graduate high school.
Personally, I thought it was rather a scary feeling when I suddenly realized
hey, I'm on my own now!  <It was right after this realization that the 
second one hit me:  I want my mommy.>

well, you ARE coming home in just a few days....YEAH!!!!!!  :)

Well, I have been giving this topic much thought recently. Soon I will 
graduate, and I will also be turning 18. While I know I will be the same
person after these events take place, I know I will no longer be treated
the same, nor will I be expected to act the same... I keep thinking, that
after this I won't have a daily routine anymore. I keep wondering if I'd 
be able to afford to go to school and live on my own... And I always wonder
if I am ready... I feel that I am ready to be done with it all... but I'm 
not sure if I am ready to be expected to handle the adult world...

My high school graduation, because of my strange life that I don't feel
like explaining now, didn't really mean much to me, except for the fact
that I got to see all of the people I'd know since the first grade
together for one last time.  I'm still in touch with about four of them.
But what I think will make me feel very different is after my college
gradution.  I don't know what I'm going to do then.

I dunno.  I miss Commie and at the same time I don't like what's happening
to it.

What's happening to it?

<lets bjorn field this one>

Aside from the fact that it's turning into a mainstrem school?  Nothing. 
Except this block scheduling BS that the teachers never really listened to
the students about in the first place.  O well, I don't plan on visiting the
actual building again - ever.

Yeah, well, I heard it really killed the jazz program.  Other than that, I've
heard good stuff about it from the people I know who go there.  How could
community ever become a mainstream school?  What are they doing?

(Well, I like Block Scheduling, but that's just me)

There's been a real decline in the offerings of anything other than mainstream
or required classes.  There's also been a real change in the atmosphere of
the school, from what I've heard from people who went there before.

Of course, even back in the '70s when the place started, people were already
saying it was going downhill.

it's hard being 'unique'  and diverse and suchlike with a constantly rotating
population, 

From what I've experienced and heard, people at Community have always been
lamenting that the school isn't the same as it used to be.  To an extent,
that's good.  It doesn't have the same students it used to, and the school
is really what the students make of it.  If it were something nobody wanted,
that would not be a good thing.

At the same time, in my last year there I saw a huge change away from student
involvement in decision making, along with a new dean who clearly felt that
it was her job, along witht the teachers, to run the school, and that the
students didn't know what was best for them.  I was really sad to see that
change, as I think it damaged a lot of what was really special about
Community.  I don't know if that has continued or if things have started
changing for the better again.

Well, last year I didn't sign up for a PiHi english class, hoping to dual
enroll and take Shakespeare, which had gotten rave reviews from everyone from
Commie who took it... and then they cancelled the class.  I ended up in
African American Lit with Ms. McEwen, which was a wonderful experience of its
own, but I'm still pissed that I didn't get to take shakespeare at commie
because of budget cuts.
<pout>

In retrospect, college seemed more like a in-between phase.  A lot of things
changed from high school to college, such as not seeing the same familiar
faces anymore, living away from parents, etc.  Yet a lot of things weren't
any different.  I was still financially dependent, I didn't learn to cook nor
did I any bills to pay.  And although I had the freedom to be wherever I
wanted to on campus, I still couldn't leave town.

Granted, everyone's experiences are different.  However, for me the changes
really came after college, when I moved out, had to pay my own rent, phone
bill, handle my credit cards, do my taxes, etc.  That's when I finally learned
about the real world.

I think people who went to college straight after high school and those who
took a year or more off before doing so have very different ideas of college.
It also depends if you go to the school a biking distance away or half way
across the country.

I can completely agree with that.  Sometimes I wish I had taken a year
off between hs and college... I think I would have treated college
differently.  But like abc up there, I didn't really learn to cook,
my bills were minor, mom and dad still paid for a lot of things...
Now that I've graduated, I live on my own, take care of all my own
bills, support a cat (or three), and it *sucks* I wanna go back!!
<wails and stomps her feet>

Wow.  I live on my own, and I'd never go back.  I love having freedom.  I get
along with my parents much better now and wouldn't mind them being closer by
(currently they're a four hour drive from me) but I would prefer not to live
under the same roof as them anymore, as my lifestyle doesn't mesh very well
with theirs.

I've kind of been pondering the taking a year off after high school thing
again, and waht its effects were.  My plans were I would take one year off,
do computer stuff, and then start college a year later.  Then that year turned
into another year, and by the time that was over I was no longer thinking of
it as time off from school.  At this point I'm realizing that had I done
college at the normal time, assuming I'd stuck with it, I would have recently
graduated, but I still haven't started yet.  I've gotten used to enough of
"adult life" that going to college would seem like somewhat of a step
backward, at least for a while, but there may also be things I would like to
learn that would be best learned by going to college.

Still, I think that had I gone to college right after high school, I might
not have lasted long there, and have ended up dropping out anyway, so I
probably did the right thing at the time.

re #20- it's not so much that I want to go home and live with my 
parents so much as I want to go back to college.  Live away from
them, but with them paying for it. <grins>

Hmm.  I didn't see enough difference living with parents vs. living in college
with them paying for it, because as long as they had the monetary leash, I
had restrictions.  Granted, the restrictions were less, such as "you can't
leave town" vs. "you can't leave the house" but they were still restrictions.

Dorm life had its moments.  I remember the good and want to be back, but then
I remember the freshmen I wanted to gravity-test and decide I'm glad to be
an adult :)

Heh.  I never really felt constrained in college.  Mostly it was "if I 
don't tell them, then it won't hurt them, or me."  <grins and shrugs>
I lived an hour and a half-ish from my parents, so I didn't see them that
often.  And if I wnated to leave town, I just had to find a friend with
a car.

They still could have called and demand where you are, why you're not in class
and/or studying :)

Of course, there's an advantage of having nice roommates.  "Um, Hi Mr. <last
name> Your daughter?  She's at the...library...studying." 

My parents never did things like that.  I generally called them every once
and awhile.  more often my mom and I e-mailed back and forth.

(high school graduation for me was an odd experience. in order to graduate,
I had to earn a "Western civilization" credit. simple enough: at the 
beginning of my senior year, I enrolled in the Humanities course, which
would have filled the requirement. flunked it. second semester, I 
enrolled in the Western Civilization course. passed the first nine weeks
with a "D". flunked the second nine weeks. my teacher, noting the "F"
for the second nine weeks, informed my counselor, who then informed my
parents that I would not be graduating. since I wasn't living at home at
the time, my parents had to call me to tell me.)

(the DAY after, my teacher calls my parents up. flunking me had bothered
her greatly [I was a student who she liked personally, even though I was
performing *far* below sub-standard at the time] and, while getting
ready to go to bed that evening, she realized that she had forgotten to
average my grade for the _first_ nine weeks with the grade for the 
second. I'd actually passed the class, with a D-. my counselor never
bothered to call my parents to confirm this; I'd had "issues" with her
from the beginning of my association with her, so that didn't surprise
me.)

(as it was, when the graduation ceremony rolled around, I didn't go. I
was very disheartened by the high school experience as a whole. after
middle school, the high school years were certainly the worst in my 
life. I ended up picking up my diploma from the senior secretary, who
was one of the high points of my high school career. it meant more to
me to get my diploma from her than from a principal and administration
I'd butted heads with for over two years.)

(like scg, I'd only intended to take one year off from school; if
anything, my attitude and performance during my senior year of high
school made it crystal clear to me that I wasn't ready for college.
then, one year became two... and I didn't start attending college full-
time until six years later. I suppose that I can say, yes, you can go to
college eventually, even if you don't hop right into it after high 
school.)

(to touch on something abc wrote earlier, taking time off between high 
school and college *did* change my perspective once I made it to college.
I'm more serious about my studies than most of my classmates. I eat
better because I learned to cook for myself, not to mention eat cheaper.
my arguments are more seasoned. I take more of an interest in how my
college career progresses. I'm involved in more activities, yet balance
my time better. I also know what I'm doing: I know exactly what I want
to get out of college.)

(I never looked forward to my high school graduation ceremony. I always 
knew that, at least in my life, it was just a stepping stone. basketball
teams that are focused on winning the championship don't cut down the 
net after every game. I'm very much looking forward to receiving my
degree.)

This is an interesting discussion.

To me, high school graduation seems to be anticlimactic. I mean, you've waited
four years for this, and now you're graduating. To me, it's like oh well,
because I'm going to bigger and better things. On my mom's side of the family,
no one (except my mother) has less than a bachelor's degree, out of seven
siblings. Three of them are teachers, and about half of them have master's
degrees or higher. So, we didn't send out graduation invitations to them,
because my mom thought it would be a waste (it doesn't help that they live
5,000 miles away on the other side of the world). On my dad's side of the
family, it's different: many of them are, ahem, losers (some through no fault
of their own), so it is important. But, my mom controls the pursestrings, so
it ended up that none was sent, although my dad did talk about it in
occasional correspondence and conversation.

I seemed to be the one graduating with the most honors, GPA, etc. (we don't
have a valedictorian because our school is so small, but based on straight
GPA calculation, I would probably be it), and I'm going on the the University
of California at Berkeley, so i guess I don't feel that enthusiastic. Some
others have found me conceited in that, but I just want to save my excitement
for when I do something really great.

On the other hand, there are others who feel very enthusiastic, or are very
relieved, including some of my friends. Certain teachers have screwed certain
students around (or have just been plain incompetent: losing grades, losing
assignments, etc.) and they are just glad they are getting out of there.

Then we look at the students who are struggling to make up work as fast as
they can to graduate. At last count, 17 of our 82 seniors had "Incompletes"
(which was designed to accomodate people that tried but just didn't get it,
but now is just a "F" than can be made up at the student's convenience) and
were making things up. Often, the teachers were sympathetic to them, and
gave them cheap little packets of dittos to do to make up one semester's work.
And, they still aren't completing them until the last minute. In a way, it
pisses me off that I had to do all this work to earn my grades at the normal
time, and they get to catch up all at the end and still earn the equivalent
of a "C" (two grade points) in the process. But, some of these people I knew
had trouble with the teachers (not one of the teachers that I had freshman
year are still around, which tells you something (although I'm still close
with a few of them, who told me that they did not leave because of choice,
but that's another story entirely)), and they're me friends, so I end up
helping them on the work.

Indeed, the teachers are a tad scared of what would happen if all 17 people
didn't graduate. We started with 98, but that's been winnowed down to 82 as
the principal tried to tell parents that their kid wouldn't graduated, and
asked them to take them to a continuation school. The principal feels that
it is too late to tell these people to leave now (especially since all the
graduation orders are in), and so feels obligated to let them walk.
Unfortunately, some of these students are going to go to four year schools
where I know they won't be prepared (but are in because we're on the campus
of a state university and are allowed automatic admission to said school).
Other universities seem to be getting the hint and are unilaterally not
accepting students from here (I know because I got rejected from "lesser"
UCs). 

In the end, though, I'll probably miss many of the people that I met in high
school. Since our school is small, we used the 'house" system, and our house
has remarkably stayed the same over the past four years (we have half our
members left from the original freshman class). While I won't miss the ASB
and their wonderful productions, or the administration that seemed to love
dragging their feet over everything, I will miss some of the others. It dawned
on me when I was signing yearbooks that I'll probably never see these people
again. Since our school is small enough, I ended up patching some of the past
squabbles and made amends to a few, others I've just decided I will never talk
to because of the way they've made my life and the lives of others I care
about miserable. I was kicking myself in the past for not leaving at the
sophomore or junior years to go back to my local school (my school is
supposedly a magnet, though it sure as hell doesn't act like one) or to
community college (through taking the state proficiency exam), but it may have
been worth it, even if I did boycott every single one of ASB's activities for
the past four years (when I had a choice to do so).

After graduation, there's the obligatory chatting. I've made plans for next
week (it's June 11th), to go through the motions in terms of finals, to keep
signing yearbooks, talk to people I don't know, and basically wave goodbye.
There's grad night at Disneyland on Thursday, that's the only senior event
I'm attending (because it's not set up by ASB, whose DJ completely botched
up the prom). I'll probably say hi to parents, pass out my business card in
a combination way of trolling for business (I didn't spend $200 on
certification for nothing) and a subtle reminder of getting them to contact
me (even if nobody, and I mean *nobody*, from middle school who I gave my
number to has ever called me, excepting good friends). The next day, I have
to be at work representing the community group that I work for (which will
be fun,  being that I'm a transit geek and this is the doubling of the LA
subway system). I might find some quick work, then I'll fly up there and
attempt to finish in four years.

It's going to be different at college, but I'd rather have it that way. No
one from my school will be there, so I can finally snap out of the ugly
personality I've carved out over the past four years. My parents have already
arranged for the necessary funding, and financial aid and loans will cover
the rest. 

So, that's all. Next week, we'll see what happens.

Drifting a bit...anyone been to a high school reunion?  I've seen only a
couple of people from my high school since graduation.  I used to think that
I'd jump at a chance to go to a reunion, but now I'm not quite sure.  Not that
there's been a reunion to go to.

I know Pioneer had a reunion in...November, I think.  Anyone go?  (I don't
even remember who, if anyone who reads this, went there)

(that would be my reunion, methinks, although I'm sure that other
graduating classes from Pioneer have reunions also. our five-year
reunion was last December, same week as Christmas. I didn't go, but
my best friend did. to me, five years didn't make me eager now to see
people who didn't particularly care about me then.)

I think five years is too soon.  Of course when the next one comes around,
I may decide ten years is too soon.

I accompanied someone else to their 20th (college) reunion - the only people
who remembered one another were all the frat brothers.

My five-year reunion is coming up...I probably won't go since there really
won't be anyone there that I feel like remembering.  And even if they were
there, I see them around town anyway.

Scott's five-year reunion is also coming up, and he's all excited about
it....which means that I will be going to that one.  It'll be really
interesting, since he went to an all-boys catholic school to see what it
will e like...

I had expected my High School graduating to be an anticlimax.  I was feeling
very much bummed about all of the pre-graduation Events - my senior recital,
the school senior banquet, etc. - and most of my classes had in fact finished
or wound down a few months ago, so I managed to convince myself that my
graduation wouldn't mean anything to me.  As it happens, though, by the time
all us graduates left the stage, I found it meaning more to me than I'd wanted
it to - not a lot more, but a little more.  
I guess I got a kick out of acting "grown-up" and pretending that already High
School meant nothing to me and I didn't feel any attatchment to the school
- but that wasn't true at all.

I remember feeling a great attraction to Community when I was there, and
especially in a way at graduation.  I was ready for it to be over and
everything, but I still felt very attached to it, so graduation felt sort of
half really happy and half kind of sad.  I think my attatchment to the school
kept up for maybe the next year, during which time I certainly wasn't one of
those graduates that wouldn't go away, but I went back to visit at least every
couple of months.  At this point high school feels like something in the
fairly distant past, and everybody who was there when I was there has since
graduated (or dropped out, or whatever).  Some of them I'm still in touch
with.  A lot more of them I've lost touch with but wouldn't mind running into
again somewhere.  As far as the school goes, it's a building with a nice
program going on inside, and there are really some teachers I should go back
and visit at some point.  However, I certainly can't go back to the school
and visit my old friends, because they aren't there either.

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