The school has been such an integral part of all of us, it was not a part of our lives, it was our entire world at some point, all things were related to school, our hobbies, our schedule, our vacations, and our mood, too.

While some of us went to convent disciplined schools, some to extravagant schools without uniforms, and some to the normal, old school, schools. All of us have had different experiences but they are somewhere or the other, similar to each other. Of course, it wasn’t always this beautiful experience, where we win competitions as teams, or we find the love of our lives, not all of us was the head girl or head boy, but we did learn a lot of things in school life, probably the hard way but we did.

Since I recently graduated from high school, I decided to list down 10 things that my school has taught me.

#Life is a Race

Yes, the school taught me how important is it to stay fit, to run in this race called life, but not just the bad race, it taught me that while a lot of people would be running after something, it is okay to run in a different race, it’s okay to walk too, but just keep moving, slowly and steadily and you never know, the trophy would be yours. It does lead to a lot of competition among the students but sooner or later we all find our own paths, and just stop competing. And school unintentionally matures us in this way.

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#Getting Ready in 10 Minutes

As stupid as it sounds, school taught us how to get ready even when our alarms stopped working, I remember getting up 10 mins before my school bus came to pick me up, with toothbrush in one hand standing under the shower, while my mother handed me over clothes, a lot of times, I used to wear my belt and socks at the bus stop, but I knew that it was possible although, I do not really recommend that, please save yourself the stress and hassle.

#You’re Not the Smartest

I was that kid in my family who was the star example of how kids should be in academics, extracurricular, but little did they know how naughty and fun I was at, I have bunked classes but I was always put on a pedestal at my house, all my cousins were compared and stuff, but when I went to school, I realized how people were smarter than me, even if I was the smartest at school, or the president of my school, whenever I went for inter-school competitions, I was shown my place. I hate to admit it, but I was not the smartest, so it keeps you grounded, makes you work hard.

Also Read: 7 Proven Ways to Learn More While Studying Less

#Being Bullied Taught Me Self-Love

I was a plump kid all my life, I was not like bullied, honestly I had good comebacks for those bullies, and I was in the student council, so nobody said too much, but during my 6th to 8th grade, I lost all my confidence when this group of boys from my class bullied me, I was devastated, it was the first time, I experienced something like this. It was very difficult to forget all of it, but the moment, I groomed myself and started loving myself, I felt good about myself and when I accepted myself, I became funnier (I like to believe so, at least) and made a better group of friends, who loved me for who I was.

#Discipline

Not exactly though, but all of us have to agree to get up at 6:15 in the morning was the most hated task of the entire day, but school did force us into all of this, sleeping on time, completing work before deadlines (not always), accepting punishments (as if we had a choice), ironing our uniform, packing bags and a lot more. It imbibed a sense of time in us, probably unintentionally but again, it did.

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#Everything is Temporary

The marks I scored in that Unit test, the competition in which I came second, the friend I lost, the best friend I made, the guy I liked, people laughing at my fumble in the assembly, the popular guy, the nerd girl, bullies, teachers scolding, punishments, everything is temporary, it is not everlasting, a week or so, and people will forget and find something new to talk about, so it’s pointless to worry about something as volatile as this. So, the tip is, if something happened, don’t care since people have a life to deal with after school, so they don’t care either.

#Sacrifice

While this run for marks and excelling in everything at school sure brings a lot of competitiveness, evaluative stress and sometimes leads to unhealthy emotions but it teaches us to sacrifice, how to let go of that party for an elocution, letting go of bad company to evolve as a person, sacrificing family time, for exams. Not everybody understands this, but the school did teach me this.

#Your Tribe Creates your Vibe

The people you hang out with, friends, you sit within the canteen, in class, friends who do not let you study, force you into things you don’t feel comfortable doing, teachers that pull you down, guys or girls who speak behind your back, these are the people one should stay away from rather have juniors who look up to you, friends who clap the loudest for you when you win in the assembly, girls who tell you when your hair doesn’t look good, people who ask you to obey your parents, friends who can have fun, but not at the cost of losing your grades or your dignity.

It’s important to surround yourself with people who bring out the best in you, not the stress in you.

Also Read: What Does It Take to Be Victorious in Life?

#It’s Okay to be Uncool

While your entire school life must be about being the coolest kid in the batch, being super popular, being loved by everyone but trust me, it doesn’t matter, I’ve been the very popular kid at my school, and it isn’t as exciting as it seems, in fact, it is not at all exciting. Being popular costs your inner peace, you always have to look a certain way, and you lose one competition, people start speaking about you, everybody assumes you to be this nasty, arrogant, mean girl who is probably laughing at your hair even when you’re not. So, it’s okay to be an underdog and killing at everything you do, in silence. Less social life is way better than a huge clique of people who are not really your friends.

#Respect

Respect everyone, everyone has a life to deal with, you’re not the only one in this world of problems, your teachers aren’t stupid asking you to complete that file, they want the best for you too, some might be a little stricter than others but it’s okay. Respect that boy solving math sums in the lunch break, it takes a lot to sit during that hour. Respect that new girl, who’s just joined your class because she’s already feeling lonely. Respect those seniors clearing your mess.

While this was a part of all things my school life taught me, the list is probably endless, but these few learnings are here to stay.