Taking a step outside the doors of high school, connections follow you, and new memories form around you. Yet, all that surrounds you passes away. Walking through life, responsibility follows you like a shadow, gripping onto you like a leech. You try to run from it, but just like your shadow, it never leaves you. This is the reality of being “mature for your age.”
As children, we couldn’t wait to grow up. We spent hours playing house and dressing up as workers of society. We even admired those above us, hoping one day we could be as cool as they are. As children, we were burdenless, with our biggest worry being what toy to play with. If only life were as simple as that.
Middle school is where the burden you never had to worry about begins to sit on your shoulders like a big boulder that grows continuously in size. First, the boulder is small—worries about bullies, classwork, and your future begin to sit on your shoulders—but as time passes, that boulder can begin to suffocate you.
Stepping into high school, with multiple classes and extracurriculars filling your schedule, it is almost like you never get a chance to breathe. As you step closer to graduation, deadlines for college and scholarships begin to weigh you down until it is almost unbearable. Even with the assortment of stress, high school also comes with the burden of being an outcast.
The obscure truth of high school is that many students are immature and lack the willingness to care regarding adulthood. This affects those who come off as more mature because they cannot simply blend into the crowds in hopes that no one will notice that they do not belong.
Treading into adulthood, there is a brief moment of relief before you begin to dwell on the new responsibilities you now must uphold. It is now a matter of survival rather than enjoyment. Pay your bills, show up to work, make a family, provide for those around you—the list is never-ending. Even so, we all make it through, but not without scraped and bruised knees. Sure, high school has ended, but this was only one chapter of the entire book. There is still much more that lies ahead.
Therefore, moving forward, I can only hope my boulder will begin to break and fall apart. I can only hope that I will begin to breathe again. I can only hope that my struggle hasn’t been for nothing. I can only hope that adulthood brings more joy than hardships. I can truly only hope.
