The time has come. Walking across the stage in a cap and gown, he feels ready to accept his diploma. He feels ready to graduate. Then, right as he is about to take the scroll of paper, he freezes. The past four years have led up to this moment. Everything has accumulated to this. He thinks about everything that has happened during that time and a new emotion starts to creep in: sadness. Did he really spend those four years wisely? 

For many, the time spent as a teenager is confined to the four years that they spend in high school. This includes sports, clubs, activities, and academics. Teenagers go through these years and then are forced to look back on what they have accomplished. The pressure of graduation and becoming an adult starts to set in. Some students regret how they have used their time in high school. 

“I feel that some of the things that I have done in high school have been pointless and won’t help me in my future,” Cody Sutton (12) said. “The time that I have spent doing that stuff has not helped me and was honestly wasted.” 

Many students like Sutton feel that they have not spent their time in high school wisely. They regret taking certain classes or not being involved in other activities. Some regret that they didn’t take the time to be with friends or were too focused on other things to make their social life a priority.

“I do hang out with friends, but I might regret not going to parties or spending more time with people,” Ryan Colvin (11) said. 

Colvin is a member of the Heritage Belles dance team and has spent much of her time in high school dancing. She also spends time in the evenings working on her academics which she says sometimes distracts her from focusing on her social life. 

“I like to work hard and then relax rather than relax and then work hard,” Luke Phipps (12) said. “I don’t regret doing things in high school because I learned from those experiences, but I do regret wasting the time that it took to do things that I wasn’t really interested in. I’m not athletically inclined, but I spent middle school through my sophomore year doing sports. I wish that I could have used that time and effort to do other stuff.”

Others, like Phipps, see the four years spent in high school as a learning opportunity. They are taking their high school experiences and using what they learned to help them in the future. Students are realizing that their time being a teenager is coming closer to the end and want to make the most out of it. 

“I’m on the Heritage Belles which means that I dance every day,” Colvin said. “I think that being on the Belles has really helped me with my work ethic both in dance and in life. I don’t regret spending my time being on the team because I like to dance and because of what it’s taught me.” 

When all is said and done, high school has to come to an end. Diplomas will be handed out, pictures will be taken, and then everyone will go home. The only thing left will be the memories and experiences from high school. 

“I don’t want to regret any of my time spent in high school, Phipps said. “If I don’t do something now, then I might regret it later on in life.”