Gone are the days of sleeping in, wakeboarding, fugitive, and not knowing what day of the week it is.
The end of summer marks the start of something new. Something fresh.
New faces, new classes, new teachers, and worst of all new expectations.
Expectations of more homework, more responsibility, and more maturity.
Summer is a haven where we let ourselves forget that high school can be the most important times of our life.
Where we can push to the back of our mind SATs, ACTs, GPAs, and any other acronym that teen life will throw at us.
A dream where the most important decisions we have to make are whose party to go to or whether or not we should wear sunscreen at the lake.
Dreams don’t last forever though and we wake up from this wonderful one with a bucket of cold water.
Cold water that startles, depresses, stresses, and causes frustration.
We try to cling to the dream once we wake up but can only grasp small piece of a memory.
Pressure. Pressure is the story of teen life. Pressure to fit in. Pressure to get good grades. Pressure to say the right thing, talk the right way.
It can make or break us and reveals who we really are. Like a piece of coal that can form into a beautiful diamond or be smashed into dust.
Pressure comes from not only parents, teachers and coaches but ourselves.
Knowing that how well you do in one year, one class, one test could ultimately decide what kind of life you lead in the future is a scary prospect.
As hard as academics are there is another pressure in high school that is just as hard if not harder.
Do people like me? Do I fit in? Who are my friends? Am I a good person?
These questions and more swirl around teens heads probably more than anything.
Good thing high school isn’t all decisions and pressure though.
While being a teen can be the hardest part of your life it can also be the best.
Going out on Friday night to the football game.
Being able to see your peers every day with the same beliefs you also have share their insights that hardly ever leave a seminary building.
Seeing friends you haven’t seen over the summer.
Learning things that will help with your life and developing new friendships with people.
Summer is officially drawing to a close.
While I am sad, worried, stressed, and fearful.
I am also anxious, happy, and excited.
Time for school and all that comes with it.
