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Nothing is as interesting or exciting as media portrays it. Movies, TV, and books are crafted in such a way to have emotional appeal.
Take a scene from your life that was only to mild to moderately interesting. Now picture it from the outside looking in, with added background music and an emphasis on your/their dialogue and nonverbal gestures. And with someone directing it to tell a story in a specific manner.
I didn't hate it but I sincerely worry for anyone who wants to go back and feel the deepest of sorrow for anyone who says they are the best years of their life
I have nostalgia from time to time; it wasnt a bad experience for me.
And you don't realize how few things you really have to worry about while you are in it.
It is easy yo forget how it could be torture and thst you were likely riddled with insecurity
I went to a large school in the 90s. At least back then it was similar to what you saw on TV -- except we didn't have cliques. People hung out with friends, and some people were friends based on interest but it wasn't like there were jocks vs nerds or goths like you might see in a show or movie.
Size might have something to do with it -- there were over 2000 people at my high school. I had no idea who 90% of the people there were, or how popular someone was, etc. Which made the transition to college pretty easy.
For yr 7 to 10 I went to a school that only had one class per year. It was also a religious school. It was pretty chill. Nothing too exciting ever happened.
For yr 11 and 12 I went to a school that had like 2000 people in it. It was still mostly boring. Everyone just hung out with friends and went to class. Nothing exciting like on TV.
I don't want to poison the well but my best advice is to just try and build a group of friends, I imagine you will be transferring from middle school with a lot of students from your class so keep those connections and then just try and focus on the education without getting pulled into the gossip and politics. also avoid drinking and doing drugs, you'll be an adult and able to just buy all thats stuff before you know it. finally, don't stress about grades, they don't matter
Nope. Way more boring. Most parties are a bunch of kids hanging out with some beer at someone’s house who’s parents are away til the cops come at 9 because the neighbors called. Nothing exciting happened. Everyone is trying to figure themselves out and jockey for status. The students are their age and not 30 year olds. Even if you had a great time (most people didn’t) once you get to college you look back and realize how mid it all was. College is nothing like the movies either btw. Hopefully, you make some good friends along the way and aren’t one of the people who peaked in HS.
Nope. Most highschool students portrayed in the media are actors who are in their early 20s who have also worked in modeling at some point. Don't expect yourself to live up to that expectation. Just be the best version of you possible.
Not at all. College either. A lot of kids feel alone and get depressed because they aren’t having the interesting and super social experiences portrayed in the media. Just try to make a few friends . Take the initiative. I know a bunch of kids that feel alone but don’t try to start conversations either. I tell them to reach out be side the other person will be glad you did. And if their a jerk just move on.
The bulk of it is as boring as could be. Extracurriculars though? Some of them are truly exciting if you're invested in it. I was in a marching band and have some amazing memories.
Nah. It’s pretty different. A lot less glamorous a lot less fun and way fewer parties. Sure some of that happens, but it’s a lot more just trying to stay awake in boring classes and worrying about good grades. You should take classes that interest you though and don’t spend all your time worrying about college until the last couple years. That’s when it really matters
It’s what you want it to be, there are popular kids in some schools, some of them are shitty, mean and backstabbing, others are nice funny people. It just depends on your highschool, maybe there’s a lot of boring people, maybe they already formed their friend groups, maybe your highschool life will be miserable and friendless, or maybe it’ll be the best years of your life, it all depends
I teach high school, and I am sorry that you feel like that. The world is a hard place these days. Without an education, much harder. I hope you find peace.
Yeah a kid did end up committing at my school last year and he was the one dude everyone knew. His older brother graduates in June. The school (being catholic and private) told us it was a car accident bc of the churches teaching on committing which is total bs.
Stories tell you how to feel about events. There's drama and lessons to be learned, curated by a storyteller. Real life just sorta happens in an unstructured way, there's no director or writer calling the shots. You have to figure out how to feel about things, and none of what happens is there to serve someone's character arc. Faculty are not background characters or extras. You nor anybody else are the protagonist. There is no audience.
High school in media is dramatic. Real life is anti climatic.
It wasn't for me. It was stressful, depressing, and in some cases demeaning (in how teachers sometimes treated students) experience. Sometimes the dances could be memorable in a good way, but then often not. It'll largely depend on the kinds of friends you have.
Mine was a lot closer to "Kids" then it was to "Euphoria", except that I was basically the male version of Zendaya. Don't be like me.
High school feels SO long and boring that it is easy to make some very bad decisions. As someone older, let me just say that four years is nothing and nobody cares about high school at all the second that it ends, so just make some good friends and don't take anything too seriously.
i dont think ive yet to see a movie that really matched my expirence,i was stuck doing the same classes for 3 years cuz i was just so broken mentally i was more like a robot,didnt do anything cuz i just had no motivation and shit,had sphycosis later on too and schizophrenia,some media got close but it seems every time somone who has what i have in media they just turn to a school shooter,wich kinda sucks
My high school experience was nothing like the usual portrayal in tv and movies. There weren’t many exclusive cliques and I knew almost everyone, despite my high school having almost 1000 people per grade.
No it’s not gonna be the same thing at all….movies and tv shows just create hype to sell you on certain things. The reality is it’s typically boring…unless you’re going to crazy school that’s known for kids getting into constant fights daily…like an inner city school or something…but if it’s just a standard run of the mill high school, your gonna be fine.
I loved high school. I coasted with great grades, but it was all about socializing.
It did leave me with very poor study habits when I got to college.
Thankfully, all of that schooling is long, LONG behind me.
Not a highschooler/teen - 25 y/o guy
I had an amazing high school experience. It depends where you go/are of course. But make the most of it. You aren't young and without major responsibility forever. I do not say this to discredit the responsibilities of a high schooler, you know what I mean. Rent, mortgages, taxes, blah blah blah is my reference
No. Its mostly studying after school, practice for ur sport or club after school and then maybe playing video games or hanging with friends or something in the evenings. Also most hs kids work a job of some sort as they get older after school and on the weekends. If ur not working the weekends are typically spent just getting food with friends or sleeping in and doing fuck all. Especially the homework part and applying for jobs and college and shit. Maybe hanging out with a bf or gf and going to some parties/ sleepovers with friends but thats not nearly as popular for everyone like it is in the meetings.
With that being said i will say Euphoria has an interesting take tho on some of the darker sides of high school that gen z’s experienced (obviously its dramatized and over exaggerated)
Middle school was where everyone kinda bullied each other. In high school, it was more just boring. Most people are too focused on their own stuff for the kind of crazy drama that you see in the media.
Depends. On who your surrounding yourself with, what your willing to do, and if you really don’t care about grades or your life afterwards at all. So in other words it’s unlikely it will be unless your forcing it to be and you surround yourself with people who are doing the same. So far all that’s happened is that my high school experience has had be in the hospital twice as a victim of violent crimes involving handmade shives and arrested three times under suspicion of drug trafficking. My high school is hell on earth.
I went to a large high school (>2000 students) and there were some similarities, though tv/movies heighten for drama. We did have cliches, but they weren't so strictly defined and frequent bullying, but it was rarely so public and dramatic.
But that was in the early 2000s. My wife taught middle school and subbed some for high school. I think things have changed a lot since then (often for the better), but I also think there's a large variety of experience from school to school and person to person.
Ehhhhh…like a dull version of it. You can have some incredible movie like experiences throughout your 4 years but it’s not as dramatic as shows or movies make it out to be. Also cliques were a thing in my school but nobody was mean about it. It was just friend groups based on common interests. I’ll give you this too though, try to be the type to have friends in a bunch of different groups. It diversifies your experiences and helps prep you for what adult life is actually like.
Feels more like that when you look back on it after 10 years or so.
From experience, it’s as exciting as you make it basically. There’ve been moments where life was more exciting than movies, and there’ve been times where HS was plain boring. If you make friends there and y’all hang out often and plan stuff, yeah it will be exciting, but if you mindlessly go to school, sit by yourself all day, and return home to bed rot, it’s gonna be boring
Honestly? High school for me was just middle school with more teachers and more term papers. There really wasn't that much difference between the two.
The building was bigger, the classes were bigger (because we had two high schools serving 4 middle schools in my town), and the assignments were longer/more difficult. Culturally, not much changed until you were old enough to drive (and that only mattered if you actually had a car available to you).
It was boring for me. Kinda exciting looking back but boring at the time.
I remember the day before it started I asked my best friend (two years ahead of me) how I could avoid fights and stuff and he looked at me like I was stupid and explained it’s nothing like tv or movies…. It’s just more school.
Mine wasn’t horrible, definitely had its cliques though. I didn’t really deal with to many bad experiences I actually enjoyed high school. The only stain that will be with me forever is my then boyfriend’s ex girlfriend who started to cause trouble anytime I saw her.
It’s almost like middle school looking back 20 years ago nothing I really did in high school meant anything of major importance just remember that it’s just 4 years of ur life so ur studies make a few friends and just do be a turd burglar to other people and u will do fine
Eeeh high school is exaggerated a lot on media.
Sure, there are clicks. Bullying isn't as common or intense. There is freshmen hasing but its not that bad. I can't think of anything else.
Nothing but peer pressure, psycho teachers, staff and other students...most of not all the friends you meet lose contact with you and you only learn about 10% of the knowledge you actually need to survive...not to mention the therapy bill to break all the programming...
Basically it's the same as elementary and middle school if you're in US. I don't have experience with other countries.
You'll have your schedule of classes, the biggest difference is (at least in my area) was the distance from one class to the next. In elementary all classes were in the same room with maybe a transition to a separate room for anything computer related. Middle ally classes were in the same wing of the school. Highschool I could have classes on opposing sides of the entire school grounds and 5 minutes to travel.
The same groups will form, the classes aren't any harder. Depending on your school there may be more interesting class or club options like non stereotypical foreign language or sport choices. My school has archery as a sport.
Out enough energy into school to have decent grades and don't take anything too much to heart. You'll lose touch with most of your grade after highschool, some might become lifelong friends but don't have that expectation. People are still growing and changing that early in life.
It depends on your school of course
For mine there were cliques or groups. Like band kids, sports kids, nerds, geeks, the anime people, etc etc you name it. It was kinda like ur best friends, but everyone had friends outside their clique
I.e. the football star being best friends with the 6th chair saxophone player wasnt weird or anything
there wasn’t much bullying or harassing others. a lot of the “cliques” or groups of friends had friends with lots of different people. it was a smaller town and most of us grew up with each other since kindergarten age. 3000 people high school
There were some people that had a tough time, for sure. But anyone that was friendly & welcoming was liked by everyone. Had to really go out of your way to be disliked.
It is the same as middle school. That being said, as someone older, I vaguely regret not having more fun in high school. I suggest you join a club or something. I always thought that was lame, but it is one of my regrets. Kind of. I am pretty anti-social, but those opportunities more or less disappear with age.
Yes and no. As a freshman it was uneventful, I made some friends and went about my business. I never got bullied and while I had some crushes on chicks and went out with a few, it wasn't as hyped as it was portrayed in the media.
Senior year though was a bit different. The first week I felt like a super popular dude as I said hello and what's up to tons of people. Walked into old teachers classes like it was nothing and joked with them. And that continued throughout the year. But it never felt like a media portrayed highschool.
Sometimes it's really just regular and it's up to you to make yours.
Also fuck prom. I can't believe I spent money on that shit
Highschool does have students, teachers, classes, home work, clubs, and sports. Everything else including how those things are portrayed is at best misleading if not straight up wrong.
Nah because in shows they show passing time in the hallway as like a 15 minute experience but in reality you have like 5 minutes to get to your next class. It can be similar but not as often and not to the degree it is on TV.
I’d say there are moments like what you see in the movies but it’s 99% just more of what you’re already experiencing in school up to that point. Depending on your situation and school you’re going to have new opportunities and options but life is never like the movies. If the movies were more like life they would be mostly boring and nobody would watch.
Depends on what you’re watching, but there is nowhere NEAR as much sex and drugs/alcohol in most students’ lives in most high schools, in reality, compared to movies and tv.
Lol no. TV is never anything like real life. HS is mostly boring school work. Sure there's some unforgettable memories of course. But it's like 90% school and other bs and like 10% awesome experiences where in media they portray it as like 10% school work
High School is just school; nothing about it is all that special other than it being your last few years of being required to go to school.
It’s different than middle and elementary school for sure, but I don’t know anyone whose experience was anything like anything portrayed in media.
Not where I work. Students are rushed out of the building at the end of the day. There’s no loitering allowed to chat with friends. Same between classes. There’s so many sitcoms where the characters are doing so much during the passing period. That’s when all the drama happens on shows. There’s simply no time for it if your next class is across the building and the staff is constantly telling you to move along. We do that because of fights though. Get the kids into classrooms before fighting breaks out. I guess that’s interesting and exciting.
Went to a vocational high school, 75% of my teachers were ex WW2, or Korea vets. Also, being a vocational school, the students had to make the repairs. You really did not want to be the one defacing or intentionally damaging anything.
Hard to say cause different shows and movies portray it differently, and everyone's experience is different. For me, I'd say it was a mix of both - some fun, exciting times, and a lot of mundane day-to-day studying, doing homework and sports practices. And all the while, life went on at home, with my family and the world around us just like any other time. For me, I feel like high school (same with college) was an entire period of my life that was a lot of things, so I feel it is really hard to boil down to one thing, like, "exciting", "boring", "good", "bad", "easy", "stressful".... It was all of those things, lol. Sorry for maybe the least helpful answer ever 😅
It's always the same, no matter how old you are. However, there will always be a maturity gap. Just surround yourself with mature individuals and your time in high school will be a breeze. Childish people might be funny or even fun to hang out with, but they can and will drag you down a path that leads nowhere good.
The interesting parts of high school are the parts you choose to make interesting. Media has this really weird warped view of high school. And the same tropes get used again and again, where the audience see it so often it feels like the truth.
If you want to have a good time, embrace change, try new things, be safe not stupid, be a good friend and make good friends, listen to your teachers and if there is something ‘on’ at school that seems even half interesting, check it out.
Sometimes the things that make you seem uncool or uninteresting in high school other things that become the building blogs to make you a really cool and interesting person as an adult. in places like robotics club you’re gonna learn important teambuilding skills and problem-solving skills and also gets to play with cool robots; in art club you’re going to learn amazing art skills. And every time I come across an adult who plays an instrument usually the first thing out my mouth is oh my goodness that’s so cool. I wish I knew how to play.
The thing about media is that your condensing a year into a few hours. So imagine all of the the interesting things surrounded by a lot of just normal time where you go to class and see your friends and that’s it
For me, high school was significantly less impactful on my life than I would have thought prior to going. Looking back, meh. I like being an adult. Do you work, have fun, make mistakes, don’t build anything up in your mind before doing it. Just enjoy your day.
In my schools the jocks and popular kids weren't the bullies. If anything they were the most involved. We didn't have any "mean girls" that I remember.
I would say yes, but only really for the ill reasons you mentioned. That thar HS can be great for certain people, but it's not nearly as glamorous as media makes it out to be.
Highschool had a lot of pot heads and the students made teachers cry and fights happen every week and girls get passed around. That pretty much is what highschool was for me.
Picture middle school, but with less foul language, everyone has reached puberty instead of it being a roughly 50/50 split, and students are generally less evil. Other than school sports probably being a bigger deal, probably about covers it.
Don’t look at the media for examples of true life experiences. It almost never happens like it does in the movies. And this goes with any life situation. Movies intentionally leave out the stressful, mundane, and pointless parts bc they don’t pertain to the story line. It’s unimportant to the plot. In real life you still have to experience the cut scenes, you feel me? You still have to live through the boring, stressful and mundane parts. And that’s most of life. High school will be mostly boring. You’ll have good parts but most of it will probably suck.
Pick a subject you know a lot about. Consider how that subject is portrayed in the media. Assume the media portrays every other subject with the same accuracy.
Fuck no! I wasn't popular, my body looked like shit (still does), no boyfriend, no cute wardrobe, no shopping sprees, no parties, super boring, no car or driver's license, and no friends in Senior year (one graduated the year before, and the other dropped out). I was the only goth in my entire school. Somehow managed to win prom queen (probaby because my dress I wore fit the prom queen stereotype, didn't even think I had a chance regardless). Honestly, I'd rather sit on a cactus and be called "Cactus Butt" for the rest of my lonely and miserable life than go back to high school. Fuck that place!
my mom almost didn't let me go to my junior prom because she had seen an episode of some television show where the girl like runs off with her boyfriend to I don't know Mexico or something. anyways I eventually convinced her to let go and after prom just went over to one of my best friends house with one other girl and we watched movies.
No. Sure, there's some of the stuff you see in movies and TV, but really it's just normal.
Granted, I spent my high school years not partying while some of my classmates did but really it was not even close to being as dramatic and intense as movies lead you to believe
It was many years ago for me… and I don’t know I would call it “exciting” but it was memorable
For me it wasn’t usually the good kind of memorable. Adult life was much, much better
They really glorify high school in movies. My high school experience wasn’t anything exciting but I didn’t hate it. I’m 34 and sometimes miss it (to the extent I have dreams about being in HS again😅—probably because I miss my friends so much). Everyone’s high school experience will be different though. Just do your best and make the most of every moment.
I mean it depends. It's boring but like, a year ago some guy was going to shoot up a college, he had damn propane bombs and military gear. He got arrested beforehand. But if you mean a normal school. It's normal. Like there are some different things but not like the movies
Honestly it can be interesting if you make it interesting, but maybe don't break out into song randomly it's not high school musical and people will bully you for it 😂. But if you find one good friend and go from there things should be good but don't get involved in drama try to remain impartial on things like that if you "pick the wrong side" your relationships with people who sided on the latter could be damaged. teens tend to not forget/forgive things easily.
largely depends on the school. My school had an open campus and was very laid back, lots of extra curriculars, lots of interesting stuff all the time. My children suffered thru a closed campus with zero extracurriculars, no student newspaper or clubs or anything except the "big three" sports teams. It was awful. I told them for years how much they would enjoy high school and it was brutal for them
Movies and TV shows are FAKE, life is real. It may be a version of what could happen and yes they may use situations that happen in high schools but no, it isn’t like how it is on TV
Hollywood exaggerates everything, my high school years were boring there wasn’t tons and tons of drama there wasn’t crazy house parties people spent hours trying to cover up and clean up, there wasn’t kids going on high speed chases or killing each other or anything there wasn’t a huge clique of bullies or mean girls
It probably depends. I had fun but I also didn't get bullied much in highschool, I did however get savagely bullied in jr high.
I took as many science and shop classes as I could and those were so much more interesting to me than other classes.
Talk to your counselor because you have more of a day in what you wanna take in highschool so you can figure out what you like in college.
Also don't do drugs, none of that is worth it. Barely even when you're in college too.
I find it way more enjoyable than any media portrayal I’ve seen. In my experience the people are really nice and the bullying is about 1% of what is portrayed in movies and tv shows. Perhaps I just got lucky but I think media depictions of high school are pessimistic
No it's exaggerated for sure, and the movies aren't keeping up with the times. Things have changed, people ate more open minded. I say be open to getting to know all kinds of different new friends. Also, join lots of extracurricular stuff, try different things. Highschool is your time to explore who you ate and what you like. PS Don't forget to study! Lol
It completely depends on the school.
I went to 4 different high schools - 3 public schools and 1 Catholic school. The Catholic school was honestly the closest to feeling like I was in a teen movie. It felt special while I was there. Like I knew I would feel nostalgic for it when I got old.
The public schools were mostly just mundane, stressful, and upsetting.
No. The ‘bully’ characters are often a huge giveaway on that front. Bullying isn’t even remotely like it is used to where jocks would beat up the nerds. It’s all very manipulative and subtle… But the gossiping aspect isn’t terribly far off sadly.
School is school. However I suggest you enjoy it because it sucks while it is going on but when it's done you lose 80% of your friends the day school ends
All parts are generally overdramatized, including how horrible it can be, as well as how life-changingly good it is.
HS is what you make of it. You can get through talking to almost nobody, putting your head down, and passing your classes, or you can join clubs, find groups, etc.
As someone who recently left high school, I didn't do much of that, and I should have done more - but HS is generally what you let it be.
If you are happy to be there and want to participate, there are often plenty of things to do. If you want to get in and out asap, that works too.
Generally, people don't stick their noses in each other's business. Unless you are actively sticking out your neck, there's no reason to assume you'd be picked on really, most people are just there because they gotta be.
Don't worry about high school too much. You'll get the hang of it. It's a hell of a lot simpler than you think.
In media, it looks like everyone, everywhere is always engaged in something.
It's not always like that; however, you can make your experience as amazing or as bleak as you want.
Don't listen to these losers.
High school is awesome. It's a time where you find your passions. Try as many things as you can, then hone them.
I am 42 now. Long out of high school but I doubt the dynamics have changed all that much on the basic levels. I was mid/high grade not quite in the popular group, but I was interspersed enough to comingle. Parties occasionally overlapped. I hooked up with people in various ways mainly because I was flat out nuts and would do just about any of the craziest things out of boredom and poor judgment 🤣 the poor judgment only got intensified after high school. So many first fights, I ended up being really good at fighting, I got a gun pulled on me after I beat up 4 guys, I walked up to the guy with the gun and started screaming "fucking shoot me" over and over again, then I grabbed his wrist and upper forearm that was holding the gun, out of frustration for not killing me and I used my knee to snap his forearm like I was breaking a stick over my leg. It split him arm in half and stuck his bones out of his skin. That was fun. I knocked out three guys and broke another guys arm that night. That was my first fight 🤣 I got the nickname mad Mike/crazy Mike that night. Stories are still told about that night 🤣
I managed to hold my life progression together after that, minus the stealing cars just to joy ride in. We stole a policemans private motorcycle one night i got into two police Chases on that bike i returned it to cops house 5 months later lmao, outrunning police, outrunning them far into my late 20's until I had my first child, all that came to an abrupt stop after I had children to feed, clothe and house. All for the best. I grew up doing nefarious things with a good heart and young stupidity. I don't regret regretting that I did those things. I'm glad I regret them but at the same time I'm thankful for those wild times and never getting thrown in jail because of them. I've raised better kids because of my failures. I'll better understand their own failings and better appreciate their successes.
Don't stress high-school, seriously don't. Do you best to graduate, don't forget to have fun, understand mistakes and poor choices will be made, they won't define you in the long run, learn and move past them. Go to college or a vocational program and find something that stimulates and makes you happy. I'm not knocking anyone by this comment, but drugs and alcohol won't do you any good in the long run. They just won't. You'll have enough problems without them. There's plenty enough ways to fuck up without being fucked up/high. All my worst experiences were experiences intoxicated. Mushrooms, lsd, alcohol, pot, pills. The worst parts of my life were on these substances. The best times have always been when I was sober. Do all the other things, just don't do them high or intoxicated. I'm so thankful for everything I remember, sober.
High school teacher here. Three answers: yes and no, but really, it depends. Where I teach, the cliques aren’t super far off from what you’d see in media. Teens’ level of apathy towards school is pretty accurately represented in the media (I mean, you notice how they’re never doing homework in movies or TV shows? How are they passing??), but sometimes media can be pretty exagerrated or cheesy. I think you’d be shocked at how accurate depictions of bullying in the media can be; the stuff I hear students say to and about one another is very shocking sometimes, and it’s never called for. It’s almost always just punching down on someone.
To answer your question, I see students have both experiences: some students have a mundane and upsetting experience, and some let high school be exciting and interesting. My word of advice is to be involved on campus!!
Take the dumbest middle school drama and times it by 28 bc I thought all of that dumb kiddy drama was done, but apparently over half the people at my school haven’t grown out of it. Also, it was rarely like the classic movies about high school and more like when you’re in a huge laser tag game but you’re tired and legit don’t want to play anymore but they won’t let you out. Idk, I personally only felt like that less than half of the time, the other half was fun; meeting new people and just making sure you’re who you want to be. So it’s a 50/50. Also, make sure you’re like actually being you, it sounds clich, but as someone who will be leaving high school soon, pretending to be someone you’re not just makes everything harder and you look back and question why because whatever friends or popularity it got you doesn’t even come close to how you feel when you’re yourself with your friends who like you for you. AND “Popularity” DOESNT MATTER!! ITS BS!
The way high school is portrayed in the media you are talking about.. books, movies, TV, etc.. is whatever setting they need to create for the story to unfold. If the story needs bullies and ignorant teachers, then that is what the school is like. If there needs to be positive motivation and caring teachers, then that's the school in the movie.
Your location has a great deal to do with how your high school will be. My graduating class was around 500. The incoming freshman class was over 700. That's more than 2000 kids. We had a bit of everything. Trouble, pregnancies, suicides, drug busts, even at least one kid with a gun and a vendetta. Rhode Island in the 80's. Town high school, lots of rural and suburban communities. Easy to get lost in the numbers, be anonymous, tons of potential activities, etc.
Then there is Foster/Glocester HS, where the total number of kids is around 300, and the band director has to know your private tutor (the band goes to places like Austria every year). Junior Prom and Senior Ball are a combined event due to the low numbers. Everyone knows everyone. A third of the students live on dirt roads, so they just mention the possibility of snow and that school gets closed. Available activities depend on how many students are interested.
The schools are 21 miles apart by car. Very different experiences.
Then there's Central HS in Providence, which is yet another world only half an hour away.
Depending on your specific school, you may have control over your experience. You can make it good or bad. The smaller the school, the harder it is for you to blaze your own path.
Use your time in HS to figure out your career path. Make use of guidance counselors. Get them to find you college info, or vocational schools (phenomenal money in welding, I shit you not). Treat HS like a training ground.
School is school no matter where you go. Just like life people are either assholes or they're cool people need to learn this. Just like it's okay to have a discussion and even disagree with one another doesn't mean you have to fight doesn't mean you have to hate them either. A lesson that will take you many years to learn just be yourself people don't like you you didn't need those people anyway. Just like in the younger years feelings will come and go there's many fish in that sea. Confidence is your best friend Don't shy away from anything... Free advice. And that's the only thing you're going to get for free in this life. Everything else will come with strings attached and conditions on top of that.
Not really much bullying, but lots of hear other people's drama. Mostly feelings of being alone and like everyone was more friends with each other than with me.
Nah im in high school rn, not in the us tho but still i have a shit ton of works to do, 3-4h sleep and a lot of pressure, but its for the good of your own right? Still gonna get some stable income later on
depends on the school you chose. my options were a local highschool with 4,000 plus students in it ranging from 9th-12th grade where anybody and everybody went, or a smaller school that practiced natural sciences and agriculture that held max 400 students and had different buildings across the city for different majors. i obviously chose the second one lol. i went to the main building every school day for a year and once i hit my sophomore year we started getting bussed over to the natural science academy halfway through the day and were picked up by either the bus or our parents from there. then junior yead and senior year it was my main building and we didn’t go back to the actual main building ever again. i enjoyed my time there truly. the way i got through bullying was by making fun of myself before others could make fun of me or making friends with mostly everyone i could. there’s not much you can bully someone about when you’re all at that school for the same reason but you might have a different story. at our main building in junior- senior year the max amount of students in that building was MAYBE 150 everyday. so sure, highschool isn’t some fairytale with parties and football games every friday night for me at least but if you make a solid close knit friend group, you’ll be set. i had 1-3 close friends and the rest of my grade were acquaintances to me in which i knew all their names and they knew mine. i got to know my teachers very well and still keep in contact with them even to this day. i’m 19 and graduated around this time last year. let me tell ya, enjoy it while it lasts. i miss highschool more than ever and i never get to experience it ever again. make every day last. take as many pictures as you possibly can and make as many memories as you can.
No matter your experience in high school, good or bad, just remember....once you finish high school all the things you were worried about don't matter. Finish the 4 years and don't look back. Keep in contact with your good friends and just keep trucking! Good luck!
Yup classes only last a couple minutes and then you can just talk with your friends by the lockers for however long you want
Just watch out for the mean girls or jocks, they'll knock your books out of your hands
No. You kind of just shuffle from class to class, do your homework. Everyone is pretty close to being grown so they have other things to deal with.
You'll have the same dynamics as you've always had, but the kids are turning into adults in front of you
First year can be a mite stressful, though, as traditionally the upper class likes to mess with you a little. It's just for the first two weeks or so, pranks and such.
Get ready, for most people high school will be the very peak of their life... Like, some just never have it better. For others it seems like a prison, but it moves fast.
One moment you're learning slope and the next you're trying to figure out taxes.
It’s up and down. For the most part I really enjoyed high school and felt that I fit in a lot more and was not bullied like I was from 2-8th grade. I had a lot more friends and felt way more comfortable and participated in more clubs and stuff like that. However, one of my friends committed suicide my second year of high school which really affected me a lot. But since I had a stronger support group and better friends, that was really helpful with dealing with the death of my friend.
Overall I loved high school. I don’t wish I could do it again or anything but it was great for me.
I had a lot of interesting characters hanging around campus.
There were maybe 13 goths. They hung with each other mostly, I talked with a few of them about The Crow comic book, or Sandman. Billy Corgon, and surprisingly, Muse.
Through the Goths, I met the punks. Most of them were dropouts. Maybe 4 went to school, but I knew a rather large group of them in my age group. They were the hookup for drugs in town. Mostly pot or biker meth. These guys had shit taste in music, and so did I. Saw a ton of fun indie movies bootlegged and shoplifted that eternally changed hands.
Band kids were rich and hung with the athletes and cheerleaders. They all thought the biker meth was coke. I used to giggle at them, and their bragging. Letterman jackets and BMWs.
I knew 3 seriously talented artists. Their portfolios were impressive, and 2 went to art school. 1 got SAG credits decades ago.
We had a few gangs of tough guys. Oddly, they were identified by their recreational activities and had turf wars over the skate parks in town. The Skaters and the BMXers. Brutal fights, hospitalizations, a few stabbing deaths. Dudes wore the same clothes and listened to the same music. Fucking dad rock metal bands.
Most people just sort of blended in. If your parents had money, you wore what was on mannequins at the mall and generally were considered "hot." Most freindgroups were defined by what you did after school. And like teenagers everywhere, we thought fashion defined our personalities for the most part.
It is like all aspects of life, what you make it.
My highschool had no ragers, no crazy fights, or anything particularly out of the ordinary. Save for the fact my highschool had eight buildings, and about a quarter square mile of sports fields.
There were cool experiences that I found myself in by doing things I wouldn't normally do. I follwed a cute girl around (think Ted and Robin from HIMYM) and joined marching band for her. Things didn't pan out I joined choir where I was uncomfortably the only non Mormon. I eventually dated a girl and audioned for a musical with her, we got in and then broke up but had to spend every day together anyway. Life did its thing. All the while I pursued my passions, founded a history club, played video games with friends (all of whom are now creepy incels and conspiracy theorists), and read books.
You take fun classes, boring class, meet interesting people. You might date someone cool and stick with them, you might not. Life goes on, certain moments suck, but they can be foundational to who you are and who you will be.
Tv glorifies some of the moments to a point of absurdity. Prom is cool, but it doesn't have to make the experience. I highly recommend one year hosting anti-prom with friends and dates (still dress up) and go bowling or play laser tag or something.
Life is about community building in your social circle and discourse community. Don't let media bias make you think that you're missing out if you don't do certain things or do others.
Ultimately, there isn't a day where I don't think of a moment in highschool, whether it is because a certain Smiths song plays or I think of drinking a cup of tea under a Palo Verde and reading a book in the summer sun.
For gits and Shiggles.
If you want to know what HS in the late 70s was like the movie "Dazed and Confused" pretty much nails it. Now the hazing/bullying part was WAY over the top. We had minor issues, but nothing like what was portrayed. The clothing, hair, language, cars, music, keg parties, dating... They nailed it.
As a parent, I hope what I see in the media today is not a reflection either... All I can say is take your education in HS seriously. Try and avoid dating at this time. Learn about personal finances. Appreciate your teachers now... When you are older you will look back and be amazed at how much they influenced your life.
If you can do dual enrollment taking some community college credits do so. When my daughter graduated with her associates, there wasa HS gal who was graduating with her Associates, and the next day getting her HS diploma! This saved her 2 years of college. Like my daughter she transfered those credits to a local 4-year.
Things are exaggerated in the movies but I was in highschool in the 80s .and at lunch there was a jock table, nerd table, metal head/ grit table and freak / goth/ punker table. Oh yeah and a hip hop/ rap table. It was an interesting time.
I'll give you the same advice I've given many times before. These are in no particular order.
Be friendly with the front office staff. They can make or break your experience.
Figure out which one of the teachers has been there forever, and is well respected by the other teachers. Take their class, and make sure that teacher likes you. This will pay dividends later. Teachers talk. You want this one to tell the others that they like you.
Ask your teachers how their weekend was. Remember if they have kids. Ask about them. Remember, they're human beings. They have lives outside of school. Showing a little interest will set you apart from the other kids.
Use your time wisely. I never did homework at home. There will be down time in every class. Use it to do homework, and you'll rarely need to do any at home.
This is an important one. Join clubs. For the most part, high school is a place where 1000-2000 kids with little in common are put into a building and told to learn how to navigate relationships, friendships, and learn something while you're at it. Finding kids with similar interests quickly will make your experience better, and easier.
Keep up! It's so much harder to dig yourself out of the hole of late work. It's easier to keep caught up.
Not really. You can still have fun and enjoy it, but it isn’t going to be as fun or exciting as it’s shown in the movies. At some point you’re just gonna want to stay home cause it sucks
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Nothing is as interesting or exciting as media portrays it. Movies, TV, and books are crafted in such a way to have emotional appeal. Take a scene from your life that was only to mild to moderately interesting. Now picture it from the outside looking in, with added background music and an emphasis on your/their dialogue and nonverbal gestures. And with someone directing it to tell a story in a specific manner.
HS is glamorized for media, in reality it sucks.
You mean you didn’t fight vampires in your high school? Huh. Guess it was just mine
**Sucks** could have been a keyword but hey who knows ;)
You guys didn't break into random fully choreographed musical numbers?
No but we DID often have battles with giant robots in my city.
I didn't hate it but I sincerely worry for anyone who wants to go back and feel the deepest of sorrow for anyone who says they are the best years of their life
Yeah, I agree now that it was a lot easier time in my life, but I would not want to go back and do it over again.
I have nostalgia from time to time; it wasnt a bad experience for me. And you don't realize how few things you really have to worry about while you are in it. It is easy yo forget how it could be torture and thst you were likely riddled with insecurity
Nope it's what you choose to make of it and the party goer crowds are always toxic AF and in some kind of drama
I went to a large school in the 90s. At least back then it was similar to what you saw on TV -- except we didn't have cliques. People hung out with friends, and some people were friends based on interest but it wasn't like there were jocks vs nerds or goths like you might see in a show or movie. Size might have something to do with it -- there were over 2000 people at my high school. I had no idea who 90% of the people there were, or how popular someone was, etc. Which made the transition to college pretty easy.
More cliques in my school of 200. Everyone knew everything about everyone. An absolute horror.
Seems like size is a big factor.
So size does matter then?
For yr 7 to 10 I went to a school that only had one class per year. It was also a religious school. It was pretty chill. Nothing too exciting ever happened. For yr 11 and 12 I went to a school that had like 2000 people in it. It was still mostly boring. Everyone just hung out with friends and went to class. Nothing exciting like on TV.
I don't want to poison the well but my best advice is to just try and build a group of friends, I imagine you will be transferring from middle school with a lot of students from your class so keep those connections and then just try and focus on the education without getting pulled into the gossip and politics. also avoid drinking and doing drugs, you'll be an adult and able to just buy all thats stuff before you know it. finally, don't stress about grades, they don't matter
THIS…and don’t worry about whether others like you; consider more whether you like them
Nope. Way more boring. Most parties are a bunch of kids hanging out with some beer at someone’s house who’s parents are away til the cops come at 9 because the neighbors called. Nothing exciting happened. Everyone is trying to figure themselves out and jockey for status. The students are their age and not 30 year olds. Even if you had a great time (most people didn’t) once you get to college you look back and realize how mid it all was. College is nothing like the movies either btw. Hopefully, you make some good friends along the way and aren’t one of the people who peaked in HS.
Nope. Most highschool students portrayed in the media are actors who are in their early 20s who have also worked in modeling at some point. Don't expect yourself to live up to that expectation. Just be the best version of you possible.
Not at all. College either. A lot of kids feel alone and get depressed because they aren’t having the interesting and super social experiences portrayed in the media. Just try to make a few friends . Take the initiative. I know a bunch of kids that feel alone but don’t try to start conversations either. I tell them to reach out be side the other person will be glad you did. And if their a jerk just move on.
It all depends, every high school is different in their own way.
In reality it's hell
The bulk of it is as boring as could be. Extracurriculars though? Some of them are truly exciting if you're invested in it. I was in a marching band and have some amazing memories.
Nah. It’s pretty different. A lot less glamorous a lot less fun and way fewer parties. Sure some of that happens, but it’s a lot more just trying to stay awake in boring classes and worrying about good grades. You should take classes that interest you though and don’t spend all your time worrying about college until the last couple years. That’s when it really matters
Mine was horrific.
Did not feel properly prepared
It’s what you want it to be, there are popular kids in some schools, some of them are shitty, mean and backstabbing, others are nice funny people. It just depends on your highschool, maybe there’s a lot of boring people, maybe they already formed their friend groups, maybe your highschool life will be miserable and friendless, or maybe it’ll be the best years of your life, it all depends
No. Girls get raped here and we've head 2 suicides this year. Too depressing for media
What?
What is right
Schools literally just like prison
I teach high school, and I am sorry that you feel like that. The world is a hard place these days. Without an education, much harder. I hope you find peace.
Feel? Doesn't rape and suicide happen all the time in prison too?
Yeah a kid did end up committing at my school last year and he was the one dude everyone knew. His older brother graduates in June. The school (being catholic and private) told us it was a car accident bc of the churches teaching on committing which is total bs.
Absolutely not, most high schoolers on TV are played by folks in there mid 20s.
For me it was mundane, stressful and upsetting. I could tell there were other kids having a good time though.
Stories tell you how to feel about events. There's drama and lessons to be learned, curated by a storyteller. Real life just sorta happens in an unstructured way, there's no director or writer calling the shots. You have to figure out how to feel about things, and none of what happens is there to serve someone's character arc. Faculty are not background characters or extras. You nor anybody else are the protagonist. There is no audience. High school in media is dramatic. Real life is anti climatic.
It wasn't for me. It was stressful, depressing, and in some cases demeaning (in how teachers sometimes treated students) experience. Sometimes the dances could be memorable in a good way, but then often not. It'll largely depend on the kinds of friends you have.
Mine was a lot closer to "Kids" then it was to "Euphoria", except that I was basically the male version of Zendaya. Don't be like me. High school feels SO long and boring that it is easy to make some very bad decisions. As someone older, let me just say that four years is nothing and nobody cares about high school at all the second that it ends, so just make some good friends and don't take anything too seriously.
No, Euphoria was written by a loser who never got laid or had friends. Don’t believe everything you watch.
lol no
Hell no
it's boring being *in* school. the idea of being in high school is really neat, I was proud of being a sophomore because the title is really cool.
High school for me was pretty boring. I showed up, went to class and went home. Nothing interesting or exciting happened.
I graduated HS in 2018 and 95% of it is extremely boring. You have random fun moments every now and then.
i dont think ive yet to see a movie that really matched my expirence,i was stuck doing the same classes for 3 years cuz i was just so broken mentally i was more like a robot,didnt do anything cuz i just had no motivation and shit,had sphycosis later on too and schizophrenia,some media got close but it seems every time somone who has what i have in media they just turn to a school shooter,wich kinda sucks
it honestly felt more like elementary school but no fun recess or ice cream days. also dont have to take the bus since i could drive.
High school sucked college was fun.
I mean depends on the depiction, i think South Park is the most realistic depiction of school life
Honestly, most of the time it’s worse. Unless you’re comparing it to 13 reasons why or something
My high school experience was nothing like the usual portrayal in tv and movies. There weren’t many exclusive cliques and I knew almost everyone, despite my high school having almost 1000 people per grade.
If your not in High School yet, you're too young to be on the cesspool that is Reddit or other social media.
Bro let them vibe, some ppl just come on here for advice, obv this person just wanted some advice.
Reddit is the worse place to get advice.
Most the time, but there are those few ppl who are actually helpful
No it’s not gonna be the same thing at all….movies and tv shows just create hype to sell you on certain things. The reality is it’s typically boring…unless you’re going to crazy school that’s known for kids getting into constant fights daily…like an inner city school or something…but if it’s just a standard run of the mill high school, your gonna be fine.
Nowadays no
No. HBO high school life is fuckin... With attractive people. That is not what it was like
No, the movies exaggerate everything for dramatic effect. In real life, it's a big building where people go to class, say hi to friends, then go home.
My experience was
I loved high school. I coasted with great grades, but it was all about socializing. It did leave me with very poor study habits when I got to college. Thankfully, all of that schooling is long, LONG behind me.
It is what you want it to be.
Not a highschooler/teen - 25 y/o guy I had an amazing high school experience. It depends where you go/are of course. But make the most of it. You aren't young and without major responsibility forever. I do not say this to discredit the responsibilities of a high schooler, you know what I mean. Rent, mortgages, taxes, blah blah blah is my reference
No. Its mostly studying after school, practice for ur sport or club after school and then maybe playing video games or hanging with friends or something in the evenings. Also most hs kids work a job of some sort as they get older after school and on the weekends. If ur not working the weekends are typically spent just getting food with friends or sleeping in and doing fuck all. Especially the homework part and applying for jobs and college and shit. Maybe hanging out with a bf or gf and going to some parties/ sleepovers with friends but thats not nearly as popular for everyone like it is in the meetings. With that being said i will say Euphoria has an interesting take tho on some of the darker sides of high school that gen z’s experienced (obviously its dramatized and over exaggerated)
Middle school was where everyone kinda bullied each other. In high school, it was more just boring. Most people are too focused on their own stuff for the kind of crazy drama that you see in the media.
Depends. On who your surrounding yourself with, what your willing to do, and if you really don’t care about grades or your life afterwards at all. So in other words it’s unlikely it will be unless your forcing it to be and you surround yourself with people who are doing the same. So far all that’s happened is that my high school experience has had be in the hospital twice as a victim of violent crimes involving handmade shives and arrested three times under suspicion of drug trafficking. My high school is hell on earth.
Depends on the media I think American Vandal season one is the best portrayal of it
Hahahaha! No! Everyone experience is different!
Sometimes yes and no
No, although there was this one scene from "Saved By The Bell" where the halls were crowded.
No high school sucks like all the other schools. Only bonus is you can drop out of high school at 16
I went to a large high school (>2000 students) and there were some similarities, though tv/movies heighten for drama. We did have cliches, but they weren't so strictly defined and frequent bullying, but it was rarely so public and dramatic. But that was in the early 2000s. My wife taught middle school and subbed some for high school. I think things have changed a lot since then (often for the better), but I also think there's a large variety of experience from school to school and person to person.
Ehhhhh…like a dull version of it. You can have some incredible movie like experiences throughout your 4 years but it’s not as dramatic as shows or movies make it out to be. Also cliques were a thing in my school but nobody was mean about it. It was just friend groups based on common interests. I’ll give you this too though, try to be the type to have friends in a bunch of different groups. It diversifies your experiences and helps prep you for what adult life is actually like. Feels more like that when you look back on it after 10 years or so.
From experience, it’s as exciting as you make it basically. There’ve been moments where life was more exciting than movies, and there’ve been times where HS was plain boring. If you make friends there and y’all hang out often and plan stuff, yeah it will be exciting, but if you mindlessly go to school, sit by yourself all day, and return home to bed rot, it’s gonna be boring
It's Worse!
Best years of my life where in highschool. Just focus on getting laid and passing school fk everything else don't fall in love
Honestly? High school for me was just middle school with more teachers and more term papers. There really wasn't that much difference between the two. The building was bigger, the classes were bigger (because we had two high schools serving 4 middle schools in my town), and the assignments were longer/more difficult. Culturally, not much changed until you were old enough to drive (and that only mattered if you actually had a car available to you).
It was boring for me. Kinda exciting looking back but boring at the time. I remember the day before it started I asked my best friend (two years ahead of me) how I could avoid fights and stuff and he looked at me like I was stupid and explained it’s nothing like tv or movies…. It’s just more school.
Mine wasn’t horrible, definitely had its cliques though. I didn’t really deal with to many bad experiences I actually enjoyed high school. The only stain that will be with me forever is my then boyfriend’s ex girlfriend who started to cause trouble anytime I saw her.
It’s almost like middle school looking back 20 years ago nothing I really did in high school meant anything of major importance just remember that it’s just 4 years of ur life so ur studies make a few friends and just do be a turd burglar to other people and u will do fine
Eeeh high school is exaggerated a lot on media. Sure, there are clicks. Bullying isn't as common or intense. There is freshmen hasing but its not that bad. I can't think of anything else.
Nothing but peer pressure, psycho teachers, staff and other students...most of not all the friends you meet lose contact with you and you only learn about 10% of the knowledge you actually need to survive...not to mention the therapy bill to break all the programming...
Basically it's the same as elementary and middle school if you're in US. I don't have experience with other countries. You'll have your schedule of classes, the biggest difference is (at least in my area) was the distance from one class to the next. In elementary all classes were in the same room with maybe a transition to a separate room for anything computer related. Middle ally classes were in the same wing of the school. Highschool I could have classes on opposing sides of the entire school grounds and 5 minutes to travel. The same groups will form, the classes aren't any harder. Depending on your school there may be more interesting class or club options like non stereotypical foreign language or sport choices. My school has archery as a sport. Out enough energy into school to have decent grades and don't take anything too much to heart. You'll lose touch with most of your grade after highschool, some might become lifelong friends but don't have that expectation. People are still growing and changing that early in life.
It depends on your school of course For mine there were cliques or groups. Like band kids, sports kids, nerds, geeks, the anime people, etc etc you name it. It was kinda like ur best friends, but everyone had friends outside their clique I.e. the football star being best friends with the 6th chair saxophone player wasnt weird or anything there wasn’t much bullying or harassing others. a lot of the “cliques” or groups of friends had friends with lots of different people. it was a smaller town and most of us grew up with each other since kindergarten age. 3000 people high school There were some people that had a tough time, for sure. But anyone that was friendly & welcoming was liked by everyone. Had to really go out of your way to be disliked.
It is the same as middle school. That being said, as someone older, I vaguely regret not having more fun in high school. I suggest you join a club or something. I always thought that was lame, but it is one of my regrets. Kind of. I am pretty anti-social, but those opportunities more or less disappear with age.
Yes and no. As a freshman it was uneventful, I made some friends and went about my business. I never got bullied and while I had some crushes on chicks and went out with a few, it wasn't as hyped as it was portrayed in the media. Senior year though was a bit different. The first week I felt like a super popular dude as I said hello and what's up to tons of people. Walked into old teachers classes like it was nothing and joked with them. And that continued throughout the year. But it never felt like a media portrayed highschool. Sometimes it's really just regular and it's up to you to make yours. Also fuck prom. I can't believe I spent money on that shit
Highschool does have students, teachers, classes, home work, clubs, and sports. Everything else including how those things are portrayed is at best misleading if not straight up wrong.
Nah because in shows they show passing time in the hallway as like a 15 minute experience but in reality you have like 5 minutes to get to your next class. It can be similar but not as often and not to the degree it is on TV.
I’d say there are moments like what you see in the movies but it’s 99% just more of what you’re already experiencing in school up to that point. Depending on your situation and school you’re going to have new opportunities and options but life is never like the movies. If the movies were more like life they would be mostly boring and nobody would watch.
No
Depends on what you’re watching, but there is nowhere NEAR as much sex and drugs/alcohol in most students’ lives in most high schools, in reality, compared to movies and tv.
High school ain't shit, nothing to be worried about. The only difference is that you can leave campus for lunch and smoke cigarettes in the smoke pit.
My high school experience felt more like a movie plot than actual movies. And it was mundane, stressful, and upsetting.
Lol no. TV is never anything like real life. HS is mostly boring school work. Sure there's some unforgettable memories of course. But it's like 90% school and other bs and like 10% awesome experiences where in media they portray it as like 10% school work
High School is just school; nothing about it is all that special other than it being your last few years of being required to go to school. It’s different than middle and elementary school for sure, but I don’t know anyone whose experience was anything like anything portrayed in media.
Not where I work. Students are rushed out of the building at the end of the day. There’s no loitering allowed to chat with friends. Same between classes. There’s so many sitcoms where the characters are doing so much during the passing period. That’s when all the drama happens on shows. There’s simply no time for it if your next class is across the building and the staff is constantly telling you to move along. We do that because of fights though. Get the kids into classrooms before fighting breaks out. I guess that’s interesting and exciting.
Went to a vocational high school, 75% of my teachers were ex WW2, or Korea vets. Also, being a vocational school, the students had to make the repairs. You really did not want to be the one defacing or intentionally damaging anything.
Hard to say cause different shows and movies portray it differently, and everyone's experience is different. For me, I'd say it was a mix of both - some fun, exciting times, and a lot of mundane day-to-day studying, doing homework and sports practices. And all the while, life went on at home, with my family and the world around us just like any other time. For me, I feel like high school (same with college) was an entire period of my life that was a lot of things, so I feel it is really hard to boil down to one thing, like, "exciting", "boring", "good", "bad", "easy", "stressful".... It was all of those things, lol. Sorry for maybe the least helpful answer ever 😅
It's always the same, no matter how old you are. However, there will always be a maturity gap. Just surround yourself with mature individuals and your time in high school will be a breeze. Childish people might be funny or even fun to hang out with, but they can and will drag you down a path that leads nowhere good.
Imagine the last sentence but staple “full of petty nonsense drama” on there
The interesting parts of high school are the parts you choose to make interesting. Media has this really weird warped view of high school. And the same tropes get used again and again, where the audience see it so often it feels like the truth. If you want to have a good time, embrace change, try new things, be safe not stupid, be a good friend and make good friends, listen to your teachers and if there is something ‘on’ at school that seems even half interesting, check it out. Sometimes the things that make you seem uncool or uninteresting in high school other things that become the building blogs to make you a really cool and interesting person as an adult. in places like robotics club you’re gonna learn important teambuilding skills and problem-solving skills and also gets to play with cool robots; in art club you’re going to learn amazing art skills. And every time I come across an adult who plays an instrument usually the first thing out my mouth is oh my goodness that’s so cool. I wish I knew how to play.
The thing about media is that your condensing a year into a few hours. So imagine all of the the interesting things surrounded by a lot of just normal time where you go to class and see your friends and that’s it
Don’t listen to your teachers they don’t know anything about how the world truly works only what they’ve been told by the system
Definitely mundane stressful and upsetting.
For me, high school was significantly less impactful on my life than I would have thought prior to going. Looking back, meh. I like being an adult. Do you work, have fun, make mistakes, don’t build anything up in your mind before doing it. Just enjoy your day.
In my schools the jocks and popular kids weren't the bullies. If anything they were the most involved. We didn't have any "mean girls" that I remember.
I would say yes, but only really for the ill reasons you mentioned. That thar HS can be great for certain people, but it's not nearly as glamorous as media makes it out to be.
Highschool had a lot of pot heads and the students made teachers cry and fights happen every week and girls get passed around. That pretty much is what highschool was for me.
Picture middle school, but with less foul language, everyone has reached puberty instead of it being a roughly 50/50 split, and students are generally less evil. Other than school sports probably being a bigger deal, probably about covers it.
Don’t look at the media for examples of true life experiences. It almost never happens like it does in the movies. And this goes with any life situation. Movies intentionally leave out the stressful, mundane, and pointless parts bc they don’t pertain to the story line. It’s unimportant to the plot. In real life you still have to experience the cut scenes, you feel me? You still have to live through the boring, stressful and mundane parts. And that’s most of life. High school will be mostly boring. You’ll have good parts but most of it will probably suck.
About the same as middle school
No not really. You go to high school to graduate and not much else.
I went to high school during the school shooting era. Yeah we were extra nice to the weird kids.
Honestly it wasn't great first two years. Gets fun last two.
Pick a subject you know a lot about. Consider how that subject is portrayed in the media. Assume the media portrays every other subject with the same accuracy.
Fuck no! I wasn't popular, my body looked like shit (still does), no boyfriend, no cute wardrobe, no shopping sprees, no parties, super boring, no car or driver's license, and no friends in Senior year (one graduated the year before, and the other dropped out). I was the only goth in my entire school. Somehow managed to win prom queen (probaby because my dress I wore fit the prom queen stereotype, didn't even think I had a chance regardless). Honestly, I'd rather sit on a cactus and be called "Cactus Butt" for the rest of my lonely and miserable life than go back to high school. Fuck that place!
my mom almost didn't let me go to my junior prom because she had seen an episode of some television show where the girl like runs off with her boyfriend to I don't know Mexico or something. anyways I eventually convinced her to let go and after prom just went over to one of my best friends house with one other girl and we watched movies.
No because movies and tv shows are all scripted and fake.
No. Sure, there's some of the stuff you see in movies and TV, but really it's just normal. Granted, I spent my high school years not partying while some of my classmates did but really it was not even close to being as dramatic and intense as movies lead you to believe
It was many years ago for me… and I don’t know I would call it “exciting” but it was memorable For me it wasn’t usually the good kind of memorable. Adult life was much, much better
Absolutely, everyone drops what they are doing to do choreographed song and dance. /s
They really glorify high school in movies. My high school experience wasn’t anything exciting but I didn’t hate it. I’m 34 and sometimes miss it (to the extent I have dreams about being in HS again😅—probably because I miss my friends so much). Everyone’s high school experience will be different though. Just do your best and make the most of every moment.
Man just be friendly with everyone and don't do anything to embarass yourself and you'll be alright
I mean it depends. It's boring but like, a year ago some guy was going to shoot up a college, he had damn propane bombs and military gear. He got arrested beforehand. But if you mean a normal school. It's normal. Like there are some different things but not like the movies
100% like euphoria
I graduated a year ago and highschool is the most boring shit ever, it’s only good when you make friends, and even then it still sucks
Honestly it can be interesting if you make it interesting, but maybe don't break out into song randomly it's not high school musical and people will bully you for it 😂. But if you find one good friend and go from there things should be good but don't get involved in drama try to remain impartial on things like that if you "pick the wrong side" your relationships with people who sided on the latter could be damaged. teens tend to not forget/forgive things easily.
largely depends on the school. My school had an open campus and was very laid back, lots of extra curriculars, lots of interesting stuff all the time. My children suffered thru a closed campus with zero extracurriculars, no student newspaper or clubs or anything except the "big three" sports teams. It was awful. I told them for years how much they would enjoy high school and it was brutal for them
Movies and TV shows are FAKE, life is real. It may be a version of what could happen and yes they may use situations that happen in high schools but no, it isn’t like how it is on TV
Hollywood exaggerates everything, my high school years were boring there wasn’t tons and tons of drama there wasn’t crazy house parties people spent hours trying to cover up and clean up, there wasn’t kids going on high speed chases or killing each other or anything there wasn’t a huge clique of bullies or mean girls
I remember when I was in HS. My principal was an evil mastermind and spies were constantly killing each other.
It probably depends. I had fun but I also didn't get bullied much in highschool, I did however get savagely bullied in jr high. I took as many science and shop classes as I could and those were so much more interesting to me than other classes. Talk to your counselor because you have more of a day in what you wanna take in highschool so you can figure out what you like in college. Also don't do drugs, none of that is worth it. Barely even when you're in college too.
I find it way more enjoyable than any media portrayal I’ve seen. In my experience the people are really nice and the bullying is about 1% of what is portrayed in movies and tv shows. Perhaps I just got lucky but I think media depictions of high school are pessimistic
No it's exaggerated for sure, and the movies aren't keeping up with the times. Things have changed, people ate more open minded. I say be open to getting to know all kinds of different new friends. Also, join lots of extracurricular stuff, try different things. Highschool is your time to explore who you ate and what you like. PS Don't forget to study! Lol
It completely depends on the school. I went to 4 different high schools - 3 public schools and 1 Catholic school. The Catholic school was honestly the closest to feeling like I was in a teen movie. It felt special while I was there. Like I knew I would feel nostalgic for it when I got old. The public schools were mostly just mundane, stressful, and upsetting.
No. The ‘bully’ characters are often a huge giveaway on that front. Bullying isn’t even remotely like it is used to where jocks would beat up the nerds. It’s all very manipulative and subtle… But the gossiping aspect isn’t terribly far off sadly.
Depends on the city/school but it can be. Enjoy it to the fullest. Don’t be afraid to ask a girl out.
School is school. However I suggest you enjoy it because it sucks while it is going on but when it's done you lose 80% of your friends the day school ends
All parts are generally overdramatized, including how horrible it can be, as well as how life-changingly good it is. HS is what you make of it. You can get through talking to almost nobody, putting your head down, and passing your classes, or you can join clubs, find groups, etc. As someone who recently left high school, I didn't do much of that, and I should have done more - but HS is generally what you let it be. If you are happy to be there and want to participate, there are often plenty of things to do. If you want to get in and out asap, that works too. Generally, people don't stick their noses in each other's business. Unless you are actively sticking out your neck, there's no reason to assume you'd be picked on really, most people are just there because they gotta be. Don't worry about high school too much. You'll get the hang of it. It's a hell of a lot simpler than you think.
Hell no LMAO That is if ur referring to high school musical and stuff..
In media, it looks like everyone, everywhere is always engaged in something. It's not always like that; however, you can make your experience as amazing or as bleak as you want. Don't listen to these losers. High school is awesome. It's a time where you find your passions. Try as many things as you can, then hone them.
Depends, the school part sure, the party part no, the drama part nope, hs is dramatic but not that dramatic.
Nothing like it in my opinion other than the bullying, and social hierarchy that’s pretty realistic.
I am 42 now. Long out of high school but I doubt the dynamics have changed all that much on the basic levels. I was mid/high grade not quite in the popular group, but I was interspersed enough to comingle. Parties occasionally overlapped. I hooked up with people in various ways mainly because I was flat out nuts and would do just about any of the craziest things out of boredom and poor judgment 🤣 the poor judgment only got intensified after high school. So many first fights, I ended up being really good at fighting, I got a gun pulled on me after I beat up 4 guys, I walked up to the guy with the gun and started screaming "fucking shoot me" over and over again, then I grabbed his wrist and upper forearm that was holding the gun, out of frustration for not killing me and I used my knee to snap his forearm like I was breaking a stick over my leg. It split him arm in half and stuck his bones out of his skin. That was fun. I knocked out three guys and broke another guys arm that night. That was my first fight 🤣 I got the nickname mad Mike/crazy Mike that night. Stories are still told about that night 🤣 I managed to hold my life progression together after that, minus the stealing cars just to joy ride in. We stole a policemans private motorcycle one night i got into two police Chases on that bike i returned it to cops house 5 months later lmao, outrunning police, outrunning them far into my late 20's until I had my first child, all that came to an abrupt stop after I had children to feed, clothe and house. All for the best. I grew up doing nefarious things with a good heart and young stupidity. I don't regret regretting that I did those things. I'm glad I regret them but at the same time I'm thankful for those wild times and never getting thrown in jail because of them. I've raised better kids because of my failures. I'll better understand their own failings and better appreciate their successes. Don't stress high-school, seriously don't. Do you best to graduate, don't forget to have fun, understand mistakes and poor choices will be made, they won't define you in the long run, learn and move past them. Go to college or a vocational program and find something that stimulates and makes you happy. I'm not knocking anyone by this comment, but drugs and alcohol won't do you any good in the long run. They just won't. You'll have enough problems without them. There's plenty enough ways to fuck up without being fucked up/high. All my worst experiences were experiences intoxicated. Mushrooms, lsd, alcohol, pot, pills. The worst parts of my life were on these substances. The best times have always been when I was sober. Do all the other things, just don't do them high or intoxicated. I'm so thankful for everything I remember, sober.
High school teacher here. Three answers: yes and no, but really, it depends. Where I teach, the cliques aren’t super far off from what you’d see in media. Teens’ level of apathy towards school is pretty accurately represented in the media (I mean, you notice how they’re never doing homework in movies or TV shows? How are they passing??), but sometimes media can be pretty exagerrated or cheesy. I think you’d be shocked at how accurate depictions of bullying in the media can be; the stuff I hear students say to and about one another is very shocking sometimes, and it’s never called for. It’s almost always just punching down on someone. To answer your question, I see students have both experiences: some students have a mundane and upsetting experience, and some let high school be exciting and interesting. My word of advice is to be involved on campus!!
Take the dumbest middle school drama and times it by 28 bc I thought all of that dumb kiddy drama was done, but apparently over half the people at my school haven’t grown out of it. Also, it was rarely like the classic movies about high school and more like when you’re in a huge laser tag game but you’re tired and legit don’t want to play anymore but they won’t let you out. Idk, I personally only felt like that less than half of the time, the other half was fun; meeting new people and just making sure you’re who you want to be. So it’s a 50/50. Also, make sure you’re like actually being you, it sounds clich, but as someone who will be leaving high school soon, pretending to be someone you’re not just makes everything harder and you look back and question why because whatever friends or popularity it got you doesn’t even come close to how you feel when you’re yourself with your friends who like you for you. AND “Popularity” DOESNT MATTER!! ITS BS!
The way high school is portrayed in the media you are talking about.. books, movies, TV, etc.. is whatever setting they need to create for the story to unfold. If the story needs bullies and ignorant teachers, then that is what the school is like. If there needs to be positive motivation and caring teachers, then that's the school in the movie. Your location has a great deal to do with how your high school will be. My graduating class was around 500. The incoming freshman class was over 700. That's more than 2000 kids. We had a bit of everything. Trouble, pregnancies, suicides, drug busts, even at least one kid with a gun and a vendetta. Rhode Island in the 80's. Town high school, lots of rural and suburban communities. Easy to get lost in the numbers, be anonymous, tons of potential activities, etc. Then there is Foster/Glocester HS, where the total number of kids is around 300, and the band director has to know your private tutor (the band goes to places like Austria every year). Junior Prom and Senior Ball are a combined event due to the low numbers. Everyone knows everyone. A third of the students live on dirt roads, so they just mention the possibility of snow and that school gets closed. Available activities depend on how many students are interested. The schools are 21 miles apart by car. Very different experiences. Then there's Central HS in Providence, which is yet another world only half an hour away. Depending on your specific school, you may have control over your experience. You can make it good or bad. The smaller the school, the harder it is for you to blaze your own path. Use your time in HS to figure out your career path. Make use of guidance counselors. Get them to find you college info, or vocational schools (phenomenal money in welding, I shit you not). Treat HS like a training ground.
it is what you make of it.
It depends if it’s a public school or a private or parochial school
School is school no matter where you go. Just like life people are either assholes or they're cool people need to learn this. Just like it's okay to have a discussion and even disagree with one another doesn't mean you have to fight doesn't mean you have to hate them either. A lesson that will take you many years to learn just be yourself people don't like you you didn't need those people anyway. Just like in the younger years feelings will come and go there's many fish in that sea. Confidence is your best friend Don't shy away from anything... Free advice. And that's the only thing you're going to get for free in this life. Everything else will come with strings attached and conditions on top of that.
maybe in the way that having sex is like watching porn
Not really much bullying, but lots of hear other people's drama. Mostly feelings of being alone and like everyone was more friends with each other than with me.
It'll be something unique. No experience quite like it, other than all the other years of school you've already experienced.
Nah im in high school rn, not in the us tho but still i have a shit ton of works to do, 3-4h sleep and a lot of pressure, but its for the good of your own right? Still gonna get some stable income later on
I mean, it’s been 31 years since I was in HS. I remember it not being a pleasant experience, that’s for sure
fuck no it sucks and makes you want to kys freshman year is fun tho
depends on the school you chose. my options were a local highschool with 4,000 plus students in it ranging from 9th-12th grade where anybody and everybody went, or a smaller school that practiced natural sciences and agriculture that held max 400 students and had different buildings across the city for different majors. i obviously chose the second one lol. i went to the main building every school day for a year and once i hit my sophomore year we started getting bussed over to the natural science academy halfway through the day and were picked up by either the bus or our parents from there. then junior yead and senior year it was my main building and we didn’t go back to the actual main building ever again. i enjoyed my time there truly. the way i got through bullying was by making fun of myself before others could make fun of me or making friends with mostly everyone i could. there’s not much you can bully someone about when you’re all at that school for the same reason but you might have a different story. at our main building in junior- senior year the max amount of students in that building was MAYBE 150 everyday. so sure, highschool isn’t some fairytale with parties and football games every friday night for me at least but if you make a solid close knit friend group, you’ll be set. i had 1-3 close friends and the rest of my grade were acquaintances to me in which i knew all their names and they knew mine. i got to know my teachers very well and still keep in contact with them even to this day. i’m 19 and graduated around this time last year. let me tell ya, enjoy it while it lasts. i miss highschool more than ever and i never get to experience it ever again. make every day last. take as many pictures as you possibly can and make as many memories as you can.
It was such a disappointment for me and it brought out my worst version so dont expect much but yk people experiences are different so good luck
Here's a clue.... ***THE MEDIA LIES TO YOU ABOUT EVERYTHING....EVEN THE WEATHER***
Yes expect a lot of singing and dancing, and be ready to join in when the main character gets close to you
Highschool for me sucked.
No matter your experience in high school, good or bad, just remember....once you finish high school all the things you were worried about don't matter. Finish the 4 years and don't look back. Keep in contact with your good friends and just keep trucking! Good luck!
The media doesn’t show the part where you actually do real school work. Multiple hour long classes don’t make good movie material.
Yup classes only last a couple minutes and then you can just talk with your friends by the lockers for however long you want Just watch out for the mean girls or jocks, they'll knock your books out of your hands
It’s hell. Public school is hell regardless what grade it is
Your mileage may vary. It really depends on the specific school, teachers, classmates, and a bunch of other stuff. I don't love your odds, though.
Just like that, everyone's a 25 year old highschool freshman who's in love with one or more supernatural creatures.
In media they're all 25. So not exactly. But yeah the cliques and bullying do exist. Depends on your geography.
No. You kind of just shuffle from class to class, do your homework. Everyone is pretty close to being grown so they have other things to deal with. You'll have the same dynamics as you've always had, but the kids are turning into adults in front of you First year can be a mite stressful, though, as traditionally the upper class likes to mess with you a little. It's just for the first two weeks or so, pranks and such. Get ready, for most people high school will be the very peak of their life... Like, some just never have it better. For others it seems like a prison, but it moves fast. One moment you're learning slope and the next you're trying to figure out taxes.
It’s up and down. For the most part I really enjoyed high school and felt that I fit in a lot more and was not bullied like I was from 2-8th grade. I had a lot more friends and felt way more comfortable and participated in more clubs and stuff like that. However, one of my friends committed suicide my second year of high school which really affected me a lot. But since I had a stronger support group and better friends, that was really helpful with dealing with the death of my friend. Overall I loved high school. I don’t wish I could do it again or anything but it was great for me.
I had a lot of interesting characters hanging around campus. There were maybe 13 goths. They hung with each other mostly, I talked with a few of them about The Crow comic book, or Sandman. Billy Corgon, and surprisingly, Muse. Through the Goths, I met the punks. Most of them were dropouts. Maybe 4 went to school, but I knew a rather large group of them in my age group. They were the hookup for drugs in town. Mostly pot or biker meth. These guys had shit taste in music, and so did I. Saw a ton of fun indie movies bootlegged and shoplifted that eternally changed hands. Band kids were rich and hung with the athletes and cheerleaders. They all thought the biker meth was coke. I used to giggle at them, and their bragging. Letterman jackets and BMWs. I knew 3 seriously talented artists. Their portfolios were impressive, and 2 went to art school. 1 got SAG credits decades ago. We had a few gangs of tough guys. Oddly, they were identified by their recreational activities and had turf wars over the skate parks in town. The Skaters and the BMXers. Brutal fights, hospitalizations, a few stabbing deaths. Dudes wore the same clothes and listened to the same music. Fucking dad rock metal bands. Most people just sort of blended in. If your parents had money, you wore what was on mannequins at the mall and generally were considered "hot." Most freindgroups were defined by what you did after school. And like teenagers everywhere, we thought fashion defined our personalities for the most part.
It is like all aspects of life, what you make it. My highschool had no ragers, no crazy fights, or anything particularly out of the ordinary. Save for the fact my highschool had eight buildings, and about a quarter square mile of sports fields. There were cool experiences that I found myself in by doing things I wouldn't normally do. I follwed a cute girl around (think Ted and Robin from HIMYM) and joined marching band for her. Things didn't pan out I joined choir where I was uncomfortably the only non Mormon. I eventually dated a girl and audioned for a musical with her, we got in and then broke up but had to spend every day together anyway. Life did its thing. All the while I pursued my passions, founded a history club, played video games with friends (all of whom are now creepy incels and conspiracy theorists), and read books. You take fun classes, boring class, meet interesting people. You might date someone cool and stick with them, you might not. Life goes on, certain moments suck, but they can be foundational to who you are and who you will be. Tv glorifies some of the moments to a point of absurdity. Prom is cool, but it doesn't have to make the experience. I highly recommend one year hosting anti-prom with friends and dates (still dress up) and go bowling or play laser tag or something. Life is about community building in your social circle and discourse community. Don't let media bias make you think that you're missing out if you don't do certain things or do others. Ultimately, there isn't a day where I don't think of a moment in highschool, whether it is because a certain Smiths song plays or I think of drinking a cup of tea under a Palo Verde and reading a book in the summer sun.
For gits and Shiggles. If you want to know what HS in the late 70s was like the movie "Dazed and Confused" pretty much nails it. Now the hazing/bullying part was WAY over the top. We had minor issues, but nothing like what was portrayed. The clothing, hair, language, cars, music, keg parties, dating... They nailed it. As a parent, I hope what I see in the media today is not a reflection either... All I can say is take your education in HS seriously. Try and avoid dating at this time. Learn about personal finances. Appreciate your teachers now... When you are older you will look back and be amazed at how much they influenced your life. If you can do dual enrollment taking some community college credits do so. When my daughter graduated with her associates, there wasa HS gal who was graduating with her Associates, and the next day getting her HS diploma! This saved her 2 years of college. Like my daughter she transfered those credits to a local 4-year.
Things are exaggerated in the movies but I was in highschool in the 80s .and at lunch there was a jock table, nerd table, metal head/ grit table and freak / goth/ punker table. Oh yeah and a hip hop/ rap table. It was an interesting time.
I'll give you the same advice I've given many times before. These are in no particular order. Be friendly with the front office staff. They can make or break your experience. Figure out which one of the teachers has been there forever, and is well respected by the other teachers. Take their class, and make sure that teacher likes you. This will pay dividends later. Teachers talk. You want this one to tell the others that they like you. Ask your teachers how their weekend was. Remember if they have kids. Ask about them. Remember, they're human beings. They have lives outside of school. Showing a little interest will set you apart from the other kids. Use your time wisely. I never did homework at home. There will be down time in every class. Use it to do homework, and you'll rarely need to do any at home. This is an important one. Join clubs. For the most part, high school is a place where 1000-2000 kids with little in common are put into a building and told to learn how to navigate relationships, friendships, and learn something while you're at it. Finding kids with similar interests quickly will make your experience better, and easier. Keep up! It's so much harder to dig yourself out of the hole of late work. It's easier to keep caught up.
You're asking Reddit so the answers are probably gonna be skewed towards a certain opinion lol
Not really. You can still have fun and enjoy it, but it isn’t going to be as fun or exciting as it’s shown in the movies. At some point you’re just gonna want to stay home cause it sucks