Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2005 > December > 23 > Entry
High school fades fast
A comment by Hillary under my Five Things I Wish I Knew in High School post got me thinking.
Hillary cautioned that high school fades fast: “the ten people you are closest to in the last weeks of school, you’ll probably only keep in serious contact with 3 of them past the first summer after graduation,” she said.
It’s true that many people move on fast from high school, although not everyone has Hillary’s experience. I did. I am not in touch with any of my high school friends anymore. Not even through a Christmas card. I moved two states away, my family moved and I just lost touch. I don’t think I’ve even been in my hometown in at least five years. Maybe 10 years.
On the other hand, my wife is still close with several of her high school friends. There’s a group of about eight or 10 of them that still talk a lot and we all get together at least a couple of times a year. And we see some of our closest friends from college nearly every week.
But Hillary’s point also fits with another prior post I wrote which argued that your college academic accomplishments won’t matter for long.
It’s really quite amazing how fast things change the day after high school or college graduation. By then, everything you did the prior four years have usually already gotten you to the next step — into college or your first job or grad school, etc. And once you take the next step, no one every really asks what you did before. Nobody ever wants to know your high school GPA.
And I always find it interesting to ask people about what they did in school. Sometimes you’ll discover a close friend was a star athlete, or a debate team captain. More often, and even more interesting, you’ll find a former heavy metal loving burnout, or “band geek,” or computer club nerd. In some ways, having been out of the mainstream in school can make you a more interesting adult.
Those experiences help shape you as you mature, but the “qualifications” you earn in school fade fast. For achievers, that’s probably disappointing. But if you’re in high school now and not part of the “in” crowd, take heart. It’s your personality and work ethic and talent that will matter most when school’s over.
And as Hillary says, appreciate your friends, because those people may be only memories sooner than you’d expect.
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