Some students have their whole life planned out of what they are going to do after receiving their diploma. Others don’t even know what they are going to wear to school tomorrow. We spend approximately 720 days of our lives in high school, from about 14 to 18 years old. The first real step into adulthood is taken, walking the hallways of  high school. Different people have different outlooks on life, methods of learning and even life experiences can play a role in what you walk out with after walking across the stage to get your high school diploma. High school is supposed to prepare you for what is after graduation but many students are questioning if they are ready to go into that life or not. Has high school prepared you for the real world? 

Billy’s POV: 

I am not scared of the real world. When I graduate I am planning on being an apprentice for my brother who has his own plumbing and HVAC company. I’m planning on being an apprentice for him for about 6 months and then I want to go to school to become a firefighter, which is 2 days a week and then on my other days I will be a plumber. 

I feel like Triton has not prepared me for the real world. I personally believe triton doesn’t do a good job with the basics you need after high school but yet they spend most of their time preparing you for college.

I am very excited for after High School as for me personally I feel like it will be a new start, and I will get to do the things i truly enjoy. Just because I am excited for this doesn’t mean I am fully prepared. I feel as if Triton could’ve done better in helping kids that aren’t going to college by helping them truly understand what the true world is from a true perspective, not just from a book.

Reaghans POV: 

I am nervous about life after graduation. After graduation I am planning on taking a gap year and working. I hope to do something with children in my future. Before I begin to do this I need to think about many things such as where I am going to live, how much I need to get paid to live a stable life, when I will become financially stable to live on my own, and many other factors that need to be taken into consideration before going into the real world. I am going to live with my family while I work and become capable of living on my own. 

Personally I believe high school has not prepared me to be on my own. I believe just because the majority of seniors plan to go to college after graduation, the administration fails to talk about alternative career paths for students that don’t have interest in furthering their education after high school.  High school could have connected students that aren’t planning to go to college to a work force or trade that they see themselves doing. They could have talked more or had a seperate class such as a guidance seminar for students who are going to college and students who aren’t. 

High school has had an impact on the way I feel about leaving Triton which is a feeling of being scared, uncertain and unprepared. In the real world you have to be responsible, take over your own bills, get a full time job, get a house/apartment and even do things as little as cooking your own meals. After you graduate high school most kids are completely on their own and that’s a scary thought that I don’t think high school has made me ready for which is definitely a factor in my choice of not pursuing college.

Marvens POV: 

For me, these  four years of striding the halls here at Triton, has taught me some of the most essential lessons and has placed me one step closer to achieving my dreams of a successful future. My freshman year was probably the most challenging, having to begin high school on an 11.6” screen is not something I would ever wish on anyone. COVID-19 played a major role in my high school experience, and an important lesson I learned from that is that nothing in the real world is a set and stone plan, and always be aware that not everything will go exactly how it is planned and that I need to be ready for whatever life throws at me and being able to stand back up to pursue my journey, as long as I am breathing and healthy.

Looking back years from today, I can definitely say that I have matured, from having to learn to manage my time properly, to prioritizing my work over absolutely everything, is something I wouldn’t have gained without school, and a big part of it was the exposure that high school gave me to sports. Playing a sport during my high school years has taught me just as much or even more than being in classes, having to balance out my priorities, learning that in order to succeed in one thing that I need to excel in another, learning how going out in the real world, I must learn to understand and being able to work with other, because a key component to succeeding is being able to receive feedback and use it positively to build progress. learning to properly manage time, with school/homework, extracurricular activities such as sports or clubs, and even for a wide majority having to balance. 

After graduation I will attend a four year college, and pursue my further education towards my dream career, Business and Marketing. A lot of the classes I have taken, or currently enrolled in, have helped prepare me for that career path. Extracurricular activities such as the DECA club, have exposed me to that field of study, enlightened me on the subject and helped reduce the stress of selecting a topic.