For about a third of the school week I’m not actually at Ames High. Between Calc 2 and Computer Science 228 I spend a fair amount of my time at ISU these days. Because of this, my perspective on what high school is like is probably somewhat different than most. Personally, I struggle to see the problems and worries that plague the news day in and day out. High school certainly isn’t easy. In fact, for me it’s been quite difficult. But, I’m maybe a bit surprised to see that it’s difficult for none of the reasons that the media seems to think it is.
High school is hard because like really any stage of life, there’s a countless number of things to do, but a finite and very countable number of hours in the day, and a calendar for those days that doesn’t last forever. I want to be able to do all the things that I have a desire to engage in, but I quite simply can’t, and being able to balance and succeed in all of the various things that remain is a constant job and worry with seemingly no end in sight. That is why high school is hard in my eyes, with this struggle being the defining essence of what high school has been for me.
Ultimately, that’s really how I want it to be. Many people don’t seem to have an experience like this, or even have a desire for it. I can certainly understand that, but personally, I’ve found that going that route isn’t meaningful enough for me. The difficulty is what gives this experience meaning and purpose. I’ve found that real joy and happiness cannot be fully realized without its opposite. As long as I’m able to come out on top one way or another at the end of the day I would always say it was worth it. It would really be what I wanted to do, even if it was painful at times.