There are a lot of things that could describe high school. Stressful, fun, chaotic, and charming are just some of the many distinct and sometimes contradictory words that come to mind when I think about going to school every day. There are so many different kinds of people – some are similar to me, with so many shared interests that it’s almost eerie, and others so different I wonder how we end up walking the same halls every weekday. Multiply those thoughts a thousandfold, and I think I begin to understand what makes high school, especially in 2023, make so many different adjectives pop up in my mind. It’s the sheer variety of different people and ideas – yet all in the same institute of learning, with more or less the same mundane goal – to get through high school while maybe learning something along the way. This makes each and every moment special and unique, even at times when it seems like nothing could be more boring. Each class, each passing period, is different due to the sheer amount of people and their sheer amount of differences.
All of these unique cultures and personalities swirl together, directed towards a common destination by the fact that they all share a home Monday through Friday. High school takes people’s uniqueness and celebrates it – most have a place where they feel comfortable and accepted – but also introduces that uniqueness to the uniqueness of others. When that happens, both uniquenesses become more aware of their own uniqueness, more aware of how they fit into the larger world, and more aware of how everyone’s uniqueness helps make the world a vibrant place. These varieties of paints make up this high school painting – it’s why high school in 2023 is so polarizing. Because with so many different colors mixing, clashing, and harmonizing together, how could it be anything else?