How to NOT Peak in High School

Prologue: A Portrait of a Failed Man 

Let me paint a picture for you:

You, age 25, show up at Seycove because you need something to do with your time, other than being able to hold a job for a month at a time. You park your car in the student section, and loudly greet the hall monitor you have never met before. You walk up to a classroom you used to attend, and immediately shift everyone’s attention to you. You delusionaly ask the teacher if they remember you, and they pause for a bit too long, before answering. After wasting everyone’s time for way too long, you tell the class to pay attention and be well behaved, something you probably didn’t do, before leaving. The class is silent the whole time, as they don’t want to hear some stranger who has done nothing with their life try to motivate them first thing in the morning. After hours of bragging about events that happened 10 years ago, with people who weren’t there, you come back to watch a Seyhawks basketball game. You sit in the student section, and awkwardly tell uninterested people around you that you were a “local legend.” Thankfully, the principal and the security guard kick you out, but not before you can cause a scene.

For most of you, I probably just described an awful nightmare. It’s a bit of an exaggeration but I know I don’t want to be this type of person, and you probably don’t, so I have decided to make a guide on how to not peak in high school.

Chapter 1: The Why

Nobody wants to be the person who relives their high school experience. People say your high school years are the best years of your life, but they are wrong. High school is only 5 years, and you are young, stupid, and make bad decisions. Everyone, especially me, thinks back to how they were in grade 8, and it feels like a wave of shame and embarrassment that keeps you up at night. For example, in grade 8, we had a documentary project we had to film during our field study, and I filmed my scene in the hotel bathroom. Ok I lied, it was in grade 10, not 8.

 Everybody does these kinds of things, but you remember your own more than others, and you change and move on. If you can’t accept that you will do things that you regret, you will stay immature, selfish, and unhappy. The key to not peaking, is to increase your standards for yourself, so you improve and delay the peak. You can’t avoid peaking in life. Everyone does it, but you don’t want to peak too early.

Here is a chart I made to visualize that:

Chapter 2: The Main Idea

At its core, school is about learning, so you might as well try. One common characteristic of people who peak in high school is that they don’t focus on the learning. It’s pretty simple. If you do well in high school, you can go to university to get a good job, make money, and have something to do in your life, other than trying to pick up girls 10 years younger than you. Even if you try really hard, and still don’t do well in your classes, there are still careers and professions you can pursue and find fulfilment in. The point is to always have something to work towards.

Chapter 3: The Hivemind

I know I just talked about how the reason we are at school is to learn, but the truth is, the only reason why 98% of people show up is for the social atmosphere. Your social circle, the people you are friends with, will either make or break your high school experience, and through that, your life. Of course it is fun to goof off in class, go to parties, have a boyfriend/girlfriend, but it is most important that you have things to do separate from the social hivemind. If your entire life is built around other people, then after high school, once everyone else moves on, you will be left behind. This is why it is essential to build employable skills (abilities that can get you a job) and find hobbies and interests that motivate, excite, and challenge you.

Chapter 4: Life After Death

So by now, you are certain that you don’t want to peak in high school. What can you do to prevent that? Luckily, there are many things you can do. High school is a time of preparation for life beyond education, but it doesn’t work for everyone. Tons of people feel lost and confused in key stages of their life like this, so it’s totally normal. The best way to get ahead of everyone else is to set small, achievable goals you can work towards. You don’t want to slave away at one thing all your life, so it’s key to work on multiple things that keep you engaged. For example, your achievable goals could be something related to work, sports, creative projects projects, learning/developing a new skill. By grade 9/10, you should at least have an idea of something you want to do in the future, such as a job or university. One thing we did in PLP 10 was to create a personal credo, which is like a motivational phrase or words to live by, and put it somewhere you can see often, for example, as your phone wallpaper. The key to moving on is to try something new and escape your comfort zone. If the most challenging thing you’ve done in life is pre-calculus, you probably haven’t seen your full potential (don’t get me wrong, pre-calculus is tough). The most important thing, why most people peak in high school, is having a big ego. Just because you were big in high school does not make you successful in real life. If you can’t accept your mistakes and move on, it makes you seem immature. While people in high school might not care about your inability to take criticism, it definitely matters in the real world.

Epilogue: It Is What It Is

I know it’s probably a lot to take in all that I’ve said. What I want to make clear is that I’m not saying you need to follow my words exactly. I know it’s over-said and easier said than done, but be yourself. Think realistically and stay humble. Accept your mistakes and move on quickly. Do what you want, have fun, make friends, and try new things, but keep in mind that life doesn’t end at graduation. There is always another day to come.