Skylar Owen

Mrs. Johnson

English IV

14 April 2022

 

Breaking The High School Norm

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                  What is the stereotypical plan for a high school girl after graduation? Most girls after high school go straight to college and join a sorority. The first thing I realized while thinking about what I would do after graduation is that I didn’t want to attend college and live the “college girl lifestyle.” It took me a while to realize, but it's okay to not do what everyone else is doing. I have later learned that college is not for everyone. Through taking initiative, accountability, and using my  creative thinking skills, I decided that I am the type of person college is not for. Discovering my strengths helped me realize a career match that was best for me, and the path to get me there was not a typical path. With that being said, let's start from the beginning of my high school career.

                  For some background information, I had cheered almost my whole life, but I began to not enjoy it. So I was struggling in my first year of high school because I felt the need to conform to the high school social expectations and continue cheerleading with my friends. It was stressful for me trying to do what my friends were doing and trying to keep up with the trends while also being true to myself and what I wanted. Consequently, I took the initiative to quit cheer because it did not fit my personality and goals for the future any longer. After quitting cheer, I went on to excel throughout the years in track and field and in art, where I received Best in Show at the Kentucky BETA Club Art Competition, Southern Kentucky Superprep Track Award nomination, Art II Academic Award, and Art III Academic Award. Without quitting cheer, I would have not been the artist or athlete I am now as a senior. 

                  In the first several months of my sophomore year, I was finally finding myself; I was feeling confident, and then BOOM! The pandemic began. All of a sudden I was feeling even more isolated than I did freshman year. Therefore, I had to take accountability, and learn how to plan and structure my own way and set goals for myself to get things accomplished. Throughout the end of sophomore year and junior year with school being all online, I prioritized and got my work done early each day so I could do whatever I wanted later. To my surprise, I believe the school experience during Covid isolation has contributed to the growth that got me to who I am today,  because now I don’t waste time. I get my work done so I can do whatever I want later without the stress of having something left to still do. 

                  Then toward the end of my junior year and beginning of senior year I really decided not to follow the high school norm. I knew that the college curriculum and lifestyle would not be for me. Since then, I decided to use my ability of creative thinking to my advantage by deciding to become a cosmetologist after high school instead of attending college. I've always known that cosmetology is what I wanted to do, but I used to think not going to college would not be acceptable in today's society. Finding my strengths has led me to know I’ll be successful based on the experience I have and also my natural artistic ability will certainly help me.

                   Now that my high school career is about to come to a close, I like to look back and think about how much I have grown as a person. I no longer am stressed about my future because I stopped trying to form the high school girl norm and started just being myself. The pandemic has shaped me into a goal-oriented person, which will help me excel in my future career as a cosmetologist, and just in life in general. Now that I’m a senior, I’m most proud of how much I stepped out of my comfort zone throughout high school. In the beginning of high school, I would let things that made me uncomfortable get the best of me, which later made me miss out on things I would’ve really enjoyed. As a consequence, I made it a mission for myself to do everything even if it gave me anxiety or made me feel uncomfortable. Without having that mission for myself, I would have missed out on so many things that I loved doing and shaped me into who I am. To conclude, I know my freshman year self would be so proud of all I have overcome and who I am today.