There is a common lie that we as Americans, I think, buy into growing up and that I for one would like to cease and desist from spreading further. That lie is this:

High school is the best four years of your life.

May I just say, “What a total crock!” High school is by far nowhere near the best years of our lives and if they are, we’re doing something wrong. Think about it. They (whoever they are) are saying that the years 14-18 will be the highlight of our lives. That’s what they’re saying? Yep. Are they right? Hell. No.

By that logic, every year after our 18th birthday is for the birds. That means for the average 60-70 more years we live – more if we’re lucky – we will never again achieve the level of happiness we had in that four-year span. The fact that we’re going to have 6-7 decades or more of experiences, joys, and relationships doesn’t matter because they’re never going to be as great as high school.

Um…false.

In my experience of 20-some-odd years, life after high school has only improved. Now, I can’t say I was one of those people who breezed through high school without some emotional scars, nor can I say I was one that spends the rest of my life overcompensating and trying to get over the trauma of acne and dating and mean girls. No, I fall somewhere in the middle. Luckily, I experienced enough drama in those four years to learn how I deem it acceptable to treat other people – whether I like them or not – and that I am a never-ending project of improvement.

College? Now that definitely had one of the best year and a half spans of my life, but The Best? No, not the best. I will never again have that much freedom and that little responsibility (mostly financial) than I had in the years I spent in college. However, in the years since my life in formal education ended, I have experienced a new kind of freedom – one where my nights and weekends are my own and no longer dedicated to research and homework. I wouldn’t trade this newfound freedom for what I had before for anything. Okay, maybe I’d go back to undergrad for a period, but high school? Not a chance.

My point is – like Frank Sinatra sang – “The best is yet to come.” And I wonder how those who have come before us could discount the joys of having our first real love/relationship, getting engaged and married and having a family, paying off student loans, making our first big purchase as an independent adult (like a car or a house or a dog), or traveling and broadening our horizons, becoming an aunt/uncle/godparent/grandparent, or getting our first real job?
These are all supposed to pale in comparison to our senior prom? I’m sorry but no. That just cannot be true.