Ferris Bueller once said: “It’s a little childish and stupid, but then, so is high school.”

When I thought of high school a few years back, I was brainwashed by the idea that my four years would resemble a television sitcom. I, the leader of the pack of oblivious girls, would strut the halls of Legacy with our menacing stride and unfriendly stares. As my minions and I would stroll over to our overly-decorated lockers, crowds of girls would gather around us and drool over our mini-skirts and designer handbags. No one could compete with us. I was the Blair Waldorf of Legacy High School, and no one was standing in my way.

False.

If high school were to teach me one true thing, it’s that what matters here doesn’t matter out there. No one is going to care about what you made on that one biology quiz freshman year. No one is going to care about that time the boy on the tennis team broke your heart. No one is going to care about whether your shorts were five or six inches above your knee, because let’s be real here, that extra inch wasn’t offending anyone. Outside these brick walls are opportunities my mind cannot even begin to absorb. There are people right now conquering mountains and descending into the bottom of the ocean, and I spent four years inside the same brick building stressing out about little things.

It’s not that high school was a waste of time. It wasn’t, and the Madison who entered these halls four years ago is not the same Madison who is exiting. High school taught me so much more than I ever imagined it to, and even though I wasn’t always the person my superiors hoped, I developed into the young adult I am today. I always thought I had it all figured out. I never did, and I never will. Like Principal Richard Vernon once said in The Breakfast Club, “You ought to spend a little more time trying to make something out of yourself and a little less time trying to impress people.”

The transformation I received was large and the lessons I learned were hard, but I wouldn’t trade my high school experience for the world. I met and befriended some of the most amazing people and if I hadn’t ever signed up for Journalism, I would probably be graduating high school as a very confused and disappointed girl. I’m so grateful for the experiences I have gone through and the people I have met, but it’s time for a new challenge.