As students go through high school and watch their peers above them, graduate, one starts to notice how many of them tend to stick around: a lot. But why? In all of the movies and shows, high school is portrayed as one of the most miserable times of your life, and for many people– it is.
Despite this, many graduates are still keeping their high school lives past the intended four years by visiting their old friends and teachers all the time. Although there are many amazing teachers and friends from high school that will make anyone want to visit every now and then, there comes a point where one can’t really call it “visiting” anymore.
“Graduates are graduates for a reason, and should have bigger goals and dreams than staying in their high school forever,” said senior Katie Gropel. “It’s one thing to come back every once in a while to visit friends, but to come back every weekend to relive your high school life is embarrassing.”
Graduation is something everyone looks forward to; it symbolizes the moment one finally reaches independence from their childhood to pursue the new life they always dreamt to have. But if alumni are regularly stepping back into their childhood lives, have they really graduated?
High school lasts four years, and should only last four years. Pleasant Valley does an excellent job of preparing students for a bright future ahead of them; it’s sad to see graduates who have so much potential waste that energy by pursuing their nostalgia instead of their dreams. It’s crucial to move on from the past in order to make progress for the future. No matter how hard or scary that is to do, it needs to happen if one wants to go anywhere in their life.
No, it’s not easy to start a new life away from the old one, but one can’t grow if they aren’t willing to make themselves uncomfortable. The comfort zone won’t be comfortable forever, so one should make themselves comfortable doing the uncomfortable things, and move on. The moment one can finally do that is the moment they’ve truly graduated from Pleasant Valley High School.
