So Glad to be Out of High School

It’s been a week living in Grant Macewan residence and I’m sooooooooooooooooooooo glad no one here is still stuck in the high school ways of socializing. I haven’t gotten a single dirty look so far or a face where you can see the person thinks they know what you’re all about. And it’s really fun because everyone is not afraid to break out of their shell. People are noisy and quirky. It caught me off guard when there was ice cream being served one night in the lobby and I went down to find everyone jumping around all excited instead of sitting in a corner all like “keep it cool. Keep it cool. I know this is ice cream and I’m so excited about it but I gotta keep it cool and not be a ‘freak’”. Back in high school I was one of the few that was comfortable enough in their own skin to not hide the quirky side. I’m quite surprised to see just how many people have been hiding it, trying to act “cool”. Everyone who was like that in high school was usually considered a “freak” or a “weirdo”. People aren’t afraid to be themselves here, people aren’t afraid to run up to someone else and chat them up. One guy even walks around in a lab coat, and people think it’s cool and expressive rather than weird. I feel so at home. No one is left out either. If anyone is sitting in a corner with less than 3 people with them they really need to be prepared to be bombarded by 10 people who say they “look all lonely by themselves” (even if there are some other people). I could even hear a bunch of girls outside my door debating whether or not they should just knock on all the doors and say hi on move in day. People will even leave their door propped open and people are welcome to join in on whatever they are doing. I haven’t seen a single clique. I haven’t seen anyone excluded.

This way of being is so easy which only leaves me with one question: why can’t people be like this at high school? I mean, the only difference between high school and college ages is two small months. I really don’t see why high school has to be the way it is. I’m not going to complain forever but my heart goes out to all those people that have to experience some of the things they do. I hate to see people depressed and killing themselves just because other people cannot get over themselves and stop trying to be “cool” all the time. Being “cool” causes so much emotional stress and/or damage to EVERYONE. I barely survived sometimes.

And it kills me to know about all the people in there that are in the same position I was, but they don’t have a passion and a kung fu family to keep them alive like I did.