5 Things We Took For Granted in High School That Were Actually Awesome

We love college! We love the freedom we have, being able to skip class, the tons of people we meet and of course, college bars. But on the same token, college has kicked us in the ass, walked all over us and it is inevitable that we start realizing all the things we took for granted in high school.

A+ on a Silver Platter: Do you even remember what getting a 90 felt like? In our first year of university, we’re filled with high hopes and armed with our 90 high school averages. We all aim for that 4.0 gpa, but by the end of the semester when finals come rolling in—let’s face it, all you’re praying for is a PASS. And when the class actually does get a pretty high average? We get introduced to a bell curve. When a professor lowers everyone’s grade to lower the overall class average, you realize they’re out to get you!!

Designated Workout Times: Where else are you forced to move around and play sports you wouldn’t otherwise play than in gym class? Whether it is flag football or lacrosse, you miss actually getting credit for shooting a basketball or hitting that dodgeball at that jerk you can’t stand. Because nowadays, it takes a much-needed extra effort to get your ass out of your dorm and make your way to the gym. Juggling all the weekly assignments and lectures you have to pretend to read, forget about it! The only workout you have time for is sprinting from class A to class B.

A Regular Schedule: Remember when you knew exactly when class started and when it ended? Okay so it was probably because the bell rang at every period but also because they were the same every single day. There’s no chance of missing or being late to a class because you fucked up looking at your schedule. What’s the cherry on the top of that cake? You and your friends ending at the same time every day, because how long has it been since you last saw your best friends that sadly went to a different university or even worse, moved to a different city?

Lunch Time: No, not the greasy cafeteria food, thank god we’ve moved on to the not-so-bad dining hall food. No, what we miss are regular lunch hours, because how many times have you forgotten to eat lunch because you only had ten minutes to make it from one end of the campus to your lab that’s conveniently located at the other end of campus? We can’t eat granola bars forever.

You Know Everybody: High school, where everybody knows your name! You can put a name to every face you see in the hallway, or at least know who they know. In college, the only people you recognize are those you’ve worked in a group with or someone you may or may not have hooked up with. It’s okay hun, we don’t all remember. But what we could never forget are the teacher’s names. We knew we could beg for their mercy for that deadline extension that we all pray for in college. You want an extension? You need a formal doctor’s note. Good luck trying to get one for that “terrible” cold you had.

Just like all things, we didn’t know what we had until we lost it. These blessings we will truly miss, but we’d gladly let them go for all the things we gained in college.

We gave up the easy A’s for that hard earned B that we know took the life out of us to get. That just makes getting an A even more satisfying. We gave up gym class to gain world class fitness centres that are filled with dozens of new eye candies. We gave up the regular schedule for the flexible class times that allow us to nap during that 4 hour break between classes. Who would say no to a nap? And alright so we have to consciously remember that it’s lunch time at noon. But in the process, we become experts at scheduling lunch dates with our friends, and everyday brings us a new lunch special. Lastly, we gave up knowing every soul in the building for the vast amount of people we call strangers. We’re challenged every day to socialize with whoever bravely sits next to us, and in the process we gain a handful of new interesting friends that expose us to the different cultures we wouldn’t otherwise digest.

Yes, we had to give up the safe comfort we had in high school. But you’d be surprised at how a little discomfort can help a person grow.

Feature Image from Wikimedia