Class of 2010 chiming in. Honestly, I don't remember much about it. And I'm willing to wager that when you're 30, you won't either.

I remember the mood swings and the constantly changing crushes and the absolute desire to have a girlfriend. It was the mid to late 2000s so the emo/scene thing was in full swing. Everyone in my friend group listened to MCR, Fall Out Boy, Paramore, 30 Seconds to Mars, Blink 182...I miss talking to them about all our favorite songs. One girl I knew played bass. We bonded over Slayer and Metallica. Had the absolute hugest crush on her for a long time.

I went to a very small high school. Some of the teachers took their jobs quite seriously. Others didn't teach at all. Our math was one of the non-teachers. I remember we sat around in one class and played Russian roulette on someone's iPod Touch. I thought he was cool then, but I started to hate him once I got to college algebra and didn't know a single thing. College freshman year was a fun one.

Your high school years will be what you make of them. But there comes a certain point that you don't care about high school anymore. You'll mature. You'll move on in life. This is the biggest deal you've got going on. Then it's over and you're on to the next thing.

There will be a big push for you to go to college. And high school will be the time to figure out if that's something you really wanna do. They made us all believe that if you don't go to college, you WILL end up homeless. That's not the case. Just focus on the life you want to have and figure out how to get there. Find out what you're good at and obsess over it. Unless that thing is illegal or unethical lol Bill Gates once said, "The thing you do obsessively between age 13 and 18, that's the thing you have the most chance of being world-class at." And I believe it. I should have gone into IT. I should have seen that when I was swapping RAM kits in the school computer lab when I was 15 in 2007. But I didn't. And it took me a lot longer than it should have to find a career that I do love.

Anyway, good luck. High school is a weird time.

Congrats to your brother! I'm a couple decades removed from high school myself, but I remember it being a not-so-easy time. A lot of bullying, a ton of awful people, and a constant struggle to find identity and self worth.

Wait...that's how my 30s have been too. Fuck.

Congratulations to your brother! High School graduation can be a fun and emotional experience. It's great to see how proud you are of your brother, that support goes a long way! High school is what you make of it; if you have college in mind, be sure to focus on your studies and practice time management. Likewise, be sure to take time for yourself and make connections with your peers.

Congrats to your brother!

I can't imagine that experience of suddenly going remote at that age. If I wore hats, they would be off to him for this accomplishment in those circumstances.

High school for me was...ok. I'm glad that my parents strongly encouraged me to join the marching band. I'm autistic, so I was bullied a fair bit, and the music program gave me a place to take my mind off of that.

I'm not a musician by ANY stretch of the word, but it helped later on as I participated in drum circles at festivals & such.

wow nice, congarats to him

class of '98 myself, we didn't have online classes - I had internet at home, and the school had it too, but it was just 56k pstn - pinemail, mosaic/netscape browser, etc. I did some college classes in highschool, but it was via mail - not email, snail mail.

the world and how we communicate has changed so much since I was in highschool. kind of crazy to think about it...

Congratulations to your brother!

I actually just graduated this year. Highschool wasn't too bad, I didn't mind the pandemic because I'm pretty introverted and I got to sleep in my bed during study halls or unimportant classes. Almost flunked out this last year because burnout got to me but I got my shit together before the school year ended. I wouldn't worry about hs too much, as long as you do your hw and don't fall behind its easy.

Expelled in 9th grade. Dropped out in 10th.

My experience is best described as truncated.

I often wonder about proms, dances, sports games. It feels like I missed out on a lot sometimes.

Congratulations to your brother! I’m class of 2022 so I graduated hs last year and also had my hs experience turned upside down because of Covid. I wish you all the best during your high school experience. My advice, get really involved in one or two clubs and try to find friends that you know you can rely on. You’re at the age where there’s a lot of weird social pressure so find friends that will not judge you for who you are but will also tell you if they think you’re being stupid. And I know it’s a long way off, but start preparing to live on your own in college. Know how to cook healthy meals, balance a budget, do laundry, talk to people, etc. This is your time to figure stuff out while you still have your parents watching you closely to make sure that you’re okay. My favorite part of high school was being on the robotics team. Think, competitive sports but it’s robots competing against each other. I made some amazing friends there, many of which I still talk to over a year after we graduated. Best of luck to you.