This is finally it. The last 13 years of my life have led up to this moment. In under two weeks, I’ll be walking across the stage to get a piece of paper that defines the first chapter of my life. Seems pretty significant, doesn’t it? If only I was really excited for it.

But I don’t think I’m not excited for life after high school. I’m excited to move out into my own place, define my life, and become the teacher I’ve dreamed of being for the last four years. I’m excited for all of this, but why can’t I get myself excited for graduation? To finally be done? To put it in simpler terms: I’m burnt out.

The stress that comes with being in high school is the worst I’ve experienced so far. I know that might not mean much coming from an 18-year-old kid, but why do we make kids feel like this? Why do we put so much pressure and stress on the youth that are meant to change the world? It doesn’t make sense… but upon reflecting on my high school career, it started to.

Take the AP classes, do CHS, make sure your community service hours are done, keep your grades up, I mean the list just goes on and on. I pressured myself so hard throughout high school to be the definition of a good student. By the time my sophomore year came around, I started failing. Even though I fell ill, I kept trying to push myself harder, even though I couldn’t take it anymore. I’ve been burnt out for two years now because of the pressure students put on themselves to be the best.

I’ve been in journalism for four years now. I’ve read countless senior send-offs from the editors that have come and gone, and they all read the same. Be yourself, don’t stress, and any other piece of advice that you hear from everyone. But now that it’s finally time to write mine, I was at a loss. But when finally thinking about my high school career, I failed one thing most of all: caring too much about school.

So here’s my advice: don’t care about school nearly as much as you think you should. Sure, keep your grades up, do the sport you want to, make the mark you want to. But take care of yourself and don’t stress out. It doesn’t matter nearly as much as you think it does. That one test you fail will mean nothing to you by the time you’re done with school.

You are not defined by what you do in high school. It doesn’t make you who you are, it doesn’t determine who you are. You are who you make yourself to be, not what you think you are in high school. Stop caring about school to the point where you’re getting sick thinking about coming the next day, stop stressing about the upcoming math test, just stop. Stop and think to yourself, ‘should I really worry about this’? Will it even matter in five years? 

Don’t let yourself get too burnt out and take care of yourself in every way possible. I cannot stress enough how important it is to make sure you’re okay. Don’t stress about school anymore. I might sound like a broken record, but do you know why? Because I’m burnt out.

Don’t make the same mistakes. Allow yourself to grow, take that night to yourself, and stop worrying about that stupid math test tomorrow morning. You’re gonna do great.