I loved my high school and I have come to realize all the wonderful things it taught and instilled within me.
1. Never be afraid to use your voice
Through those glorious 4 years of high school I have learned that my opinion, my voice is important. I have realized now as I attend a co-ed college that not every woman knows the importance of her voice.
I was taught at my all-girls school to never be afraid of what I have to say, to never second guess my opinions and to stand up for anyything I say that is being challenged. My voice, as well as yours, is important.
In an all-girls school I was able to express myself freely and without fear of judgement. That knowledge followed me to college and now I am fearless and bold. I use my voice to speak proudly of what I know and feel, and I never let anyone silence me. I dictate the direction my education will take and never let people take advantage of me because I use my voice.
I urge you to carry this lesson with you as well because your voice has power and the world deserves to hear that beautiful, strong voice.
2. A VERY strong work ethic
Time management is the key to a great work ethic. As much as you probably heard this throughout life and are sick of hearing it, it is 100% true. I attribute my great time management skills to my high school and because of the abilities I learned in grades 9-12 I find college is…easy. There I said it! I always say this to people and they stare at me in disbelief. College?! EASY?! HOW? College is so easy for me because the easiest thing is maintaining the work load, and managing my time efficiently.
At my high school I would be power packed with work on a daily basis and they would not accept anything less than your best. I always tell people that college is easy for me, because the most challenging years of my academic life are behind me. I crave to go back, to again be pushed mentally and physically in every aspect. I am a stronger person today because of those challenges I faced in high school.
3. How to be a leader
Being a leader is very important in today’s culture. To break through that glass ceiling I have learned how to properly, and confidently lead through my years at a single-sex school. I have learned that the most important quality a leader can have is the ability to be versatile.
As a leader you have to know when to lead but also when to follow. The goal of a leader is not only to gain personal achievement, but to also have a team that flourishes. The best way to gain great leadership success is to know when to take charge, but also when to fall back and support your group.
This is a balancing act that requires a certain superpower that I have learned only through attending an all-girls school.
4. Know when to retreat
This is one of the best things I have learned from my catholic school education. You don’t think it at the time, but during those mandatory retreat days you start to learn that life is fast approaching, quicker than you realized. In these times of exploration and epiphanies it seems like there is nowhere to go but into uncharted territory. Retreats are the key to navigating the dark waters of life.
There is great value in knowing your breaking point. There is honor in accepting defeat. I have learned that when life gets unmanageable and there is no solution in sight, it is okay to stop for a second, take a step back and reevaluate the direction you are headed. Life gets hard and it is not possible to have every answer.
The best thing to know is your limits. Knowing when you need to mentally and physically retreat from a situation is one of the strongest traits a person can have. That means that you fully know yourself and your limitations. Retreating doesn’t make you weak it makes you strong, it shows that you are fully in control and have a level head on your shoulders, ready to face whatever the world throws at you, with grace.
5. You can ALWAYS go home
My high school is my home. It is where I have been pushed the hardest in my life mentally and physically.
My high school is where my family is. My sisters. Who walked through the halls with me. Holding each other up when one would fall, loving each other unconditionally even when it felt like love was so far out of reach, and always reminding each other that we stand united.
Our predecessors shaped the way for us to achieve great things. The alumna of the school are its heart and soul. The teachers and administration the backbone on which we learned. We all fit together, each and every one responsible for producing some of the greatest and bravest women the world has ever seen.
Those halls are our home, where we learned to walk with confidence and grace for the first time. Where we developed our voices in pursuit of great success. The strongbonds formed in this world we created entirely of unconditional love and support, will never in this life be broken.
6. Never Settle
This is one of the most important and life changing things I learned in my high school career. Never settle.
You have the ability to enhance the quality of your life and the lives of those around you if you never settle. Never settle for things you don’t believe in, fight and contribute to make the world a better place.
Never settle for subpar because you are better than that, you are extraordinary and everything you do should reflect that. Never settle for anything less than what you deserve, and you deserve the world. Never settle, make it happen because you have the ability to do anything.
Never settle when it comes to making your life the best that it can be. You have it in you to conquer and rise past any obstacle if you remember to never settle.
7. How to Love
I completely and unconditionally love myself. End of story. I have personally always loved myself 100%, but it was through the religious education my high school provided that I understood how to love completely.
I have learned that you cannot truly love another person without first loving yourself unconditionally. I learned this through the lyrics of a song from “Les Miserables” that my senior year theology teacher showed in class, “To love another person is to see the face of God”. This put everything into perspective for me.
When I unconditionally love myself, I am not only loving who I am but I am also loving God. God is within everyone and everything in this universe. After learning this I was able to see the world in a whole new light! I no longer saw people walking past me on the street, but I saw God in every one of their faces. I have learned how to fully love myself, and therefore how to completely and unconditionally love others for who they are.
This is the greatest lesson I have learned.
My high school not only produced graduates, they produced strong, free spirited, independent women who have immeasurable abilities.
These lessons taught in the heart filled halls of my high school home have helped shape me into who I am today, and will stay with me throughout my life. My deepest gratitude to all who have graced my life and taught me these lessons, I am a better person today because of you.
Thank you for always supporting me, and please know you will all be in my prayers always. I honestly and truly love you!
The main take away is this: We are strong, we are brave, we are important. We are capable of so much then more than we know, and great things are coming our way.