Throughout the course of an American public school education, students have 2,340 days of school kindergarten through twelfth grade, but over those thirteen years, is anything we learn truly applicable? Aside from learning early social skills, the knowledge collected from class to class leaves high schoolers leaving their lifetime of education knowing how to forge their parents signature, how illegal that is, PEMDAS, and that no fear shakespeare is a holy device. When taking in so much information, you can’t possibly nurture or focus on one idea long enough to really deeply understand it.

So, you go through these thirteen blurry years starting with coloring in the lines, to your first bad grade on a test, to the social hierarchy of hormonal preteens, to somehow finding yourself listening to Leslie O’Connor talk about how in 136 days you will be trying to balance a graduation cap on your head. In my first week as a senior at San Luis Obispo High School, I don’t find myself stressing about failing that math test sophomore year, and then proceeding to fail the retake, or regretting not working harder on my nobel prize project in eighth grade, or wishing I could know what people thought of me and how often I get brought up in conversation. I do, however, find myself stressing out how I’m going to get to the beach on time for sunset, regretting not telling those who inspire me that they’ve made an impact on who I’m growing to be, and wishing that I had more time.

School has always been a weighing element of stress on the lives of teenagers, not only because of the workload, or difficult concepts, or approaching deadlines, but because these are the times where we have so little to work with in expectation to know exactly what we want to do and what our future looks life. When asked what the most important thing senior students have learned in high school, none of them mentioned equations nor literary devices, but instead reflected on the wisdom they have gained from others and from within their growing selves.

 “I’ve learned to never let someone’s opinion of you to change the person you choose to be. It’s important to always be yourself, that way you find your best and truest friends,” said senior Lily Schalde.

 Many of the other answers from senior students had a similar message about the social troubles of high school, and how the struggles of feeling out of place has recently been brought to light and is becoming more understood as a positive.

“I’ve learned that it doesn’t matter where you start, or if you were once bullied, or if you’ve been treated kindly your whole life. You can choose to focus on bettering the world around you, and slowly, karma will do its job,” said senior Bella Zuniga.

 In perspective, as hard as it may seem to keep this mindset, what you learn in the classroom is uncomparable to the amount you learn and understand during these four crucial years of your life.