2007-07-05 | 2:00 a.m.
graduation and such
It would be pretty cliche to start an entry with a title like this and say "So guys I just graduated, I'm going to Southern...this summer is going to be so kickass yet kind of bittersweet because I am going to miss all my friends and just being a kid."
The fact of the matter is, to you, in the long run, it makes no difference what I am doing or where I am going. Sounds like such an "emo" thing to say but it's the truth. If there is anything I have learned in high school it's that to other people, your wants and your needs don't matter unless those needs coincide with their own. Even when you are conversing with someone, the things that you say will be listened to, but won't be remembered unless a personal connection is made.
People are selfish, I am selfish, you are selfish. It just happens to be human nature. And when you graduate and step out into the "real world," you do so still with the mindset that this world revolves around you. You carry out that mindset like you are the star of your own little reality show. The romance, the drama, the big-life changes, right? Guess what. No one's watching but you. And your friends, well, they're to busy starring in their own to notice.
It's human nature to be selfish but it doesn't have to be in your nature. The world does not belong to you, you belong to the world. And if you want to feel accepted with everyone else who belongs to the world, concern yourself with their life. I found that I made a lot more friends in high school listening, asking questions, recalling specific traits about my friends and just being there for them instead of trying to be over-the-top to make people like me. I made that mistake for awhile and watched so many others do the same. If you think "life is what you make of it" then don't go about making life all about you. Make time to find out how other people go about living it and show them that you're interested. Maybe you can learn a thing or two.
For the friends that I've lost these past four years, if we were to speak again, I wouldn't speak first. I'd listen. At many points during high school, you may think you know it all. You may think you know nothing. Either way, you are spending too much time thinking about yourself.
Open your mind. Open your ears. Ask questions. And try to cut ties with your self-centered thoughts. This is what life demands whenever and wherever you go.
Life begins now.