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I'm amazed at how many hated high school. I guess I always saw a lot of fun in it. Sure there was a lot of academic stress, and you're trying to find yourself, but there were parties to go to, and school activities--homecoming, prom, dances, football games, and it was all fun. I also learned a lot of stuff from different subjects. I like to learn for fun.
But then, I went to a really good high school. I didn't realize how awful most high schools were until I went to college and met people from different places. Some of the stories I heard...wow.
Sure, I liked HS. I wasn't one of the "cool" kids with well to do parents. I was just another working class kid, but I was also a jock and had good friends in HS.
Once I graduated and went away to college, life got even better, though. Took me a long time to pay off the college loans, but I'd say it was worth it.
Socially, I enjoyed high school. I honestly don't remember any type of bullying going on, and I wasn't in a cool clique. I did have lots of friends though, and some very good times.
Academically, it was mixed. The classes I liked I did very well in. The classes I hated (by subject matter, most of the teachers were pretty good) I totally tuned out during, and nobody seemed to care.
On balance, I have to say yes. I didn't love everything about it, and there were times I didn't like it, but all in all, I had a very fortunate high school experience.
Compared to what I go through on my job, I'd go back to high school in a heartbeat, even if the condition were that I had to serve detention every day... Even with that, it would be a lot less intrusive on my life than my work schedule.
Of course, I liked college even more, and I'd go back to college before I would go back to high school. But I still liked high school, and would take it over working any day of the week.
I went to four different high schools, two private and two good public. Mostly I was bored. I am lucky enough to have a near photographic memory to the point I remember what page number things are on that I have read and since all of the high schools I went to focused on that type of learning (regurgitating what you have read or heard) I skated through without ever having learned to study. Back then (late 80s early 90s) even the AP classes were just knowledge based and very, very little application.
College was more interesting and grad school far more so.
I only went into teaching for family reasons and not because I have a "calling" or anything. Most days I like it but no way am I a lifer. Its ironic because I was actually offered a spot at the school I teach at when I was in high school. I turned it down because all I heard was that it was harder, looking back I think I actually would have liked it alot.
It's mixed for me. The upsides were: The amazing teachers I had, particularly my art and design teacher who believed in me, encouraged me, let me take several periods of art in a row, and gave me the creative freedom to design many of the graphics, pamphlets, programs, etc. for the school. Also, the fun kids I met through art class were awesome. They introduced me to all of the great alt-rock and indie bands of the 1990s, and to this day, I feel like a kid in a candy store when I listen to music from that time and remember how fun it was.
The downsides were boredom and lack of focus. I was an exceptional math student and got skipped ahead 3 years in math, an opportunity for which I am thankful to this day. However, I had difficulties with courses that require a lot of memorization, like history and other humanities, and for those classes, I had to stay at my own grade level. I had a lot of anxiety around tests in the humanities classes, and also, felt extremely bored and restless at times, to the point where I would cut class or skip school except for math and art class. They couldn't fail me because my scores in my best subjects provided me with an excellent GPA, and failing me would've dragged the school's academic ranking down.
Finally, my sexuality confused the hell out of me. I suspected I wasn't straight because I had a crush on a female teacher, couldn't stop staring at an attractive girl in my class, and would get incredibly jealous when female friends got boyfriends – probably not because of the boyfriends, but because I was falling for them.
The guys were a mixed bag. The older guys in my classes were nice to me, and I got asked to senior prom as a sophomore. However, the guys in my own grade made fun of me and one called me names and said I was gay. The few gay and bi males in the school had it much worse, though. The school also wasn't very diverse...it had a lot of small-town white kids who didn't like blacks, but desperately wanted to embody and emulate 1990s rap culture through their dress and mannerisms. I felt it was really hypocritical of them.
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I hate it
Did you like High School ?
Even with that, it would be a lot less intrusive on my life than my work schedule.
The school also wasn't very diverse...it had a lot of small-town white kids who didn't like blacks, but desperately wanted to embody and emulate 1990s rap culture through their dress and mannerisms. I felt it was really hypocritical of them.
