High school students should understand that high school and its cliques and social standings aren’t the real world.
“South Park” creator Matt Stone, who attended Columbine High School and was an outside in school.
Re-reading an excellent essay by Paul Graham called “Why Nerds are Unpopular” reminded my of my own time at school. While school could have been boring as hell, my classmates made it hell. In a way my creativity “made me” think and act differently about many things, but my fellow students made me pay for it.
In short, it was not a pleasant time, but thinking back now, I realize … hey, that time is long over … and I’ve gone a long way since then.
And that is the main point.
Yes, school was hell, but one day it is over. Like walking through a dark storm or a mist that takes your breath — one day it is gone and you are free. And that is a close, clear cut goal to live for — to survive school as long as it lasts with as few emotional scars and as many options for the future as possible (i.e., excellent grades). Get any help you can get (there are a few good help line operators, parents, teachers, and therapists), and, if it really becomes unbearable, switch to another school before you do something that is irreversible.
But most of all, make sure that your do one thing, survive.
