Being a high schooler at GHS

Growing up, we watched movie after movie about what high school was going to be like. While some were heavily exaggerated (I’m talking about you, “High School Musical”) some were just realistic enough to seem true. Until we got here. 

At Gettysburg Area High School, in the middle of a strikingly ordinary town, there are no popular kids, no jocks, no outcasts. Though some may argue differently, seeing themselves as the ‘popular kid’ or the ‘jock,’ the truth is everyone pretty much sticks to their circle of friends. No cliques, just the people you choose to spend your time with. 

Adults love to tell us that someday these will be “the best times of our lives.” While that may be true for them, our high school experience isn’t theirs. There are a million more factors for us than there were for them: social media, phones, digital tests, the challenge it has become to get into a good college.

While I (mostly) enjoy my time here, there are still struggles. 

I would consider myself the average student. While I am in Advance Placement  and college classes, that is pretty normal for GHS. Most of our teachers are incredible that way (shoutout to my Trig teacher). However, there are still teachers and administrators that make it incredibly hard for the behind kid to get ahead.

During my freshman year I got COVID and my grandmother died, so I was out for about a month. Luckily, I had incredible teachers helping me catch up. 

In my experience, our administration tries to let us have fun, they just don’t understand what fun is for us. A pep rally can be fun, but not the way they do it. It’s just underwhelming. 

Being a high schooler here is complex. There are so many different factors including extracurriculars, after-school jobs, helping family, internships, and classes. A failure of the administration in my opinion was having an “ARC” resource period every day. That’s time we could be spending in class, doing actual work. Now, I am speaking as someone who does her homework while the teacher is talking, so I really don’t have use for it. 

All that said, I have a special place in my heart for this place. Maybe not the classes, but this school gave me my friends, people I consider my family, teachers that I actually feel like I am learning from, and a special desire to never, ever be a teacher. I could never do what they do.