Many people will agree that high school is arguably the most intense time to be alive during the process of growing up as a human being. Some remember it dearly. Some dreadfully. The matter of fact is that during high school one of the most important breakthroughs concerning the individual’s existence happens. It is during high school where the question “Who I am?” pops out for the first time for most people. Thereafter the lengthy and intricate process of self-discovery begins and it usually lasts only until one bears their name carved on a stone in a place among other similar stones in various shapes and forms.
High school is a bridge between childhood and adulthood. The starting point for becoming a grown-up is slowly paved during the final years of someone’s school years. It is a time of experimentation which includes euphoric excitements, unbearable wretchedness, good times, bad times, high hopes, broken dreams and the list goes on. From the first dating attempts that can go horribly wrong or unexpectedly well to travelling, eccentric groups, mysterious contacts and mind-blowing discoveries, the high school period contains a whole range of novelties and revelatory moments that is hardly ever found during any other frame of time.
It is during high school when people slowly begin to diversify their lifestyles. It is during high school when people start to distinguish themselves as individuals with goals and aspirations that match who there are. It is during high school when people intervene for the first time in their lives to shape their own destinies. It is during high school when most of us discover that we have a will of our own and that we can use our will to create the perfect nourishment, the food for soul, the vital elements for a personalized and meaningful existence. It is during high school that one comes to the realization that one can will to surpass their life and to improve one day at a time.
It is during those late teenage years when humans realize that despite the troubles, the uncertainty and the ambiguities beset upon them, life is still a well of delight where everything for everybody can be found.
It so happens that a sense of curiosity combined with a recurring joy of existence become a driving force in the average teenager’s soul. This force compels the teenager to seek and identify the things that relate to his or her fervent personality. It is around those final years of formal education when the tastes and preferences concerning facts, arts, ideas, currents and movements begin to take shape. Everywhere the teenagers look, they find something to be seen. Everywhere they go they become closer to their inner personal truths. Thus, after accumulating a wide spectrum of experiences and contacts with different forms of expression, they begin to say “I want to be more like this. I don’t what to be like that thing. I want to be like the other thing. This music is what defines me. This picture is what I want to have in my room. This is my kind of place. I prefer this type of movie. The other one is not for me.” And so on.
Because high school coincides with the maturity and transformation of kids into grown-ups, the period can be regarded as a cognitive, social and cultural revolution. It is around that time when the individuals question their space in the cosmic order of the Universe that connects us, goes through us and penetrates us. And the journey that follows becomes a story of never-ending endeavors meant to eventually find the answer.
Is it called high school because it’s the higher part of the school period? Or is it maybe because around that time students learn about what it means to get “high” and eventually experience it? Or perhaps is it because of the so many students who are simply high on life as often as they can because of everything that they discover. Or maybe, just maybe, is it because the higher perspectives and higher grounds that the average teenager reaches in one way or another during these times.
I enjoyed high school over all. There were moments when things got pretty bad while at the same time there were moments when things got pretty good too. Undoubtedly the good times outweighed the bad ones. Everyone had at least one major breakthrough in high school that would change things forever. In my case, that breakthrough came in the realm of music.
Until my freshman high school year I wasn’t concerned too much of looking up various forms of music. I just listened to what was on the radio or the local music channels which were concerned mostly with the pop hits of the 21st century. Those tunes were good enough for me. I thought that was all I needed in terms of music
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But lo, I was wrong. At the end of my freshman high school year I heard some fellas with epic long hair talking about rock bands from the 20th century. I heard names such as Queen, Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Deep Purple, Guns N Roses, Led Zeppelin, Megadeth, Iron Maiden. As soon as I went back home I began looking up every single one of those names. And Jesus Fucking Christ Holy Moly Guacamole with extra beans on top, that was some gold mine I had just stumbled upon. Never before in my life had I related so much to a particular style of music like I to rock music. I never knew I needed rock music so much in my life. But deep down it turned out that rock music was exactly what my teenager spirit needed. It was such a revelation that I simply couldn’t stop listening to those artists. The more I listened, the more got recommended to me. It seemed that I found myself in an endless well of songs which all felt orgasmic to my fragile ears.
After that revelation there followed an entire summer where I downloaded on my family’s computer as many songs as I possibly could in order to create the perfect playlist. For every emotion of mine there were certain songs to relate to it. I would hardly ever turn on any tv music channel or radio station. Except for Rock FM. From that point on I started to genuinely feel that I belonged to a group, to a style, to a movement. I began going to hang out in rock pubs and check local bands.
And then a moment came. One of the milestones of my high school career. While walking on one of the streets from my high school area after my classes were through, I had stumbled upon something that made my eyes dilate and glow just like an addict’s eyes seeing Heisenberg’s legendary blue crystal for the very first time. It was an Iron Maiden poster. Iron Maiden was coming to perform to my city. I didn’t think twice and stole the poster and put it in my room. After more than 10 years, the poster is still there in my room glued to the door. It was a big ass poster. After a few weeks I spent almost all my savings on that ticket. Me and a friend who shared the same music taste went there. We had a blast.
So yeah, high school is pretty cool. A lot of ins and outs. Or maybe I’m wrong, who knows. At the end of the day, that is just my opinion, man.