21 Things I Learned During High School

by | Oct 15, 2019 | Podcast

Hello everyone, Welcome back to Hear and Now Podcast, my name’s Sophia, and in this week’s episode I have a little bit of a longer episode this week. We are talking about 21 things I learned during high school.  

Thank you so much for listening to this episode, make sure you like our Facebook page at Hear and Now Podcast, follow me on instagram at @sophialebano and subscribe to us on iTunes and Spotify! As always, the link to the transcript of this episode will be in the show notes, or at sophialebano.com/podcast

I wanted to highlight a company that I think you should check out. Pura Vida Bracelets, which is means pure life in spanish, points us to a lifestyle of living free. If you want to save 20% on your purchases, enter the code sophialebano20 at checkout. Again, that’s code sophialebano20. You can also apply to be a brand ambassador like me and get your own code to share with others! When you make a purchase something using my code, dm me to be entered to win a free bracelet! 

Also, I updated my website last week. If it looks different, I was trying to play around with it because I was unhappy about how it was looking before. So I hope this new facelift will make it a little more attractive (and calm my annoyance about it too). 

I’m going to try to implement more segments into the show to make it more worthwhile, so this week I’m going to set a prayer intention. This week’s prayer intention is for peace. Peace in the world, peace in your hearts, peace in your current lives. I’m praying for peace. If you ever have any prayer intentions, you can shoot me a message and I will pray for you.

Another segment I want to add is a bible verse or encouragement of the week. This week I am going to drop one of my favorite bible verses, as well as favorite worship songs. If you don’t know him already, Matt Maher is one of my all time favorite singers, and his song Rest features the bible verse from Psalm 23. Its basically the whole chapter but here it is. “The LORD is my shepherd;* there is nothing I lack.a 2 In green pastures he makes me lie down; to still waters he leads me; 3 he restores my soul. He guides me along right paths* for the sake of his name.4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,c I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me.*You set a table before me in front of my enemies;*You anoint my head with oil;*d my cup overflows.e 6 Indeed, goodness and mercy* will pursue me all the days of my life; I will dwell in the house of the LORDf for endless days.”

It just brings me so much peace and comfort. I know it’s my mom’s favorite bible verse too. She posted about it on instagram which I will link in the description and you can go check it out. 

Okay, how was that for an intro this week? Alright Now let’s get into the show.

Like I said in this week’s episode we are talking about 21 things I learned during high school. I’ve compiled a list and I’ll elaborate on each one too. 

1. High school is not at all like the movies and tv shows. Seriously. What you seem on a screen is hardly ever real. I instantly think of high school musical. No one walks around without a backpack. No one sings when something starts to get hard (Troy). People rarely carry around a basketball instead of school supplies (Chad). You get my drift. 

2. Cafeteria lunches aren’t all that terrible. I’m just speaking from experience on this one. If your cafeteria is bad I’m so sorry, I was just blessed to have a decently nice one. The first year and a half of high school I had pretty good food, second semester I was homeschooled so my kitchen is pretty good, and junior senior year we didn’t have hot food so again, my kitchen makes pretty nice lunches. 

3. Friends come and go. I  can’t tell you how many times people will go through waves of friendships. Some may just be a fling, You bond over one thing but other than that, you have nothing else in common. Perfectly normal. 

4. Keep your true friends close. If you were blessed enough to find true friends who you vibe with, keep them close. Don’t let them go. 

5. One bad grade won’t kill you, the stress isn’t worth it. Your future isn’t determined by that one grade. You should still strive to do your best, but success has to be defined by some failures first. We are all human. 

6. You are not going to know what you want to do at 18 years old – and it’s okay if you don’t follow along the same path as everyone else. Just ask me. I have no idea what I want to do. I applied to schools, changed my major two weeks after being accepted. Changed my major again a week before school started. Now I hate all of those ideas. I have no idea what I can see myself doing. Some people still don’t and they are 50 years old. Do what makes you happy, not what society wants you to do. Take a gap year. College will always be there.

7. College application season is absolutely insane. Start planning ahead of time. It is honestly never too early to get to planning. I made a whole spreadsheet of visiting dates, scholarship deadlines, application deadlines, you get the idea.   

8. Social media doesn’t show you the whole picture. I remember one time my mom showed me a picture of a blogger who took a perfect picture of her living room. What we didn’t see, was in the second picture. She threw all the junk that was on that picture perfect side to the other just for the sake of social media. It doesn’t show you the whole picture. Perspective is everything. 

9. Everyone is riding the same struggle bus. If you are struggling in class, don’t be afraid to ask. Go struggle together. Some of the best friendships are built from struggle and brokenness. 

10. Don’t spend all your days chasing after a guy. It will only become a distraction. If he is truly worth it, you’ll know. Then drop everything and run. Just kidding. 

11. Your social life and academics should strive to be balanced, but almost never will. It is hard to maintain both in high school. It is never going to remain in perfect harmony. But go to the occasional party. Sacrifice that for school. In the end, none will be life altering. 

12. Not having a prom date isn’t the end of the world. Ask me how I know. I would rather look back on prom as something that wasn’t awkward and set up by someone else. But if you are the prom co-chair, you won’t have time to find one. Again, ask me how I know. Enough said.

13. Tearing someone else down is only going to come back to haunt you.

14. Gossiping. What goes around, comes around. Especially in the days of social media. When it leaves your mouth or fingertips, you can’t take it back. Think about it from the perspective of the other person. One word can ruin their entire life, not just their day, your week, your month or even your year. Oops #sorrynotsorry, that was the opening line to Friends. 

15. Don’t be stupid on social media. Future employers and schools will see your mistakes and use that against you. Keep it clean and pg. There was a news article about this girl was in a job and was in a bathing suit and the employers posted it on their story as an example of what not to do.  

16. You can survive through high school without a boyfriend or girlfriend. Trust me on that one. The perfect one is waiting just around the corner.

17. Your GPA or SAT scores don’t determine your future. You get an okay score, be proud of what you did do and move on. Colleges are starting to move away from basing it solely on grades. Carry yourself as a person that is determined by more than just numbers. Their article said it is not fair to base acceptance solely on grades. Some people can be terrible test takers. 

18. Find help if you need it. This can go for academics, mental health, etc. There is no shame in the  word help. 

19. Do your homework, write that paper, use time management. It’ll set you up for success your whole life. Use a digital or paper planner. It will set you up for your whole life.   

20. Respect your body. God only gave you one, use it and respect it as a temple. We only get one shot. There is an awesome bible verse from 1 Samuel 16:7 – “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” I know it may not matter to you what God thinks, but that verse has reassured me over and over again. 

21. Finally, high school is just a bridge to your future. You will stumble and fall. You will feel like the world is crashing down. It’s not, I promise. High school is a trying time, but if you embrace it, you have the world at your feet. Here’s another bible verse from Matthew 6:25-27 ““Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” Don’t be anxious about anything, don’t doubt that God will take care of you.

That was 21 things I learned during high school. All of them are pretty much from personal experience. High school goes by really fast, 4 years goes by quickly. High school was a weird experience, I kinda miss the fun of it. Embrace high school, it’s a fun time. 

Wow. Okay, we have had a packed episode. I thank you guys so much for listening to this week’s episode on 21 things I’ve learned during high school. 

Here’s a catch up from my week. I recorded this 5 days early. I joined a writing community called Hope*Writers, with authors or writers. It’s been fun so far. I don’t have to be an author, I can’t wait to publish a book in the future. I revamped my blog so I can post on days I don’t upload an episode. My mom is also a blogger, which I will link down below. I have nothing but time and the future ahead of me. 

This is something about this time of year that I love. I love Christmas because everyone is so happy, and so am I. But I love fall right now, its so peaceful and cozy. Every single fall season I’ve been in school and I’ve always hated it, but now I love it. If you know me you know I love Christmas and Christmas music. I told my friend I can’t wait for the holidays and she said, Don’t put on Christmas music yet! Go check out Matt Maher and other worship playlists. 

Check out my website for my current favorites, recipes, student planner printables, hearing loss resources, podcast transcripts and blog posts coming soon! If you are listening to this on tuesday, happy Tuesday or happy day! 

Thanks for listening to this week’s episode. 

Again, check out my website, blog, Pura Vida bracelets and the links in the show notes. Have a wonderful, blessed, and peaceful week everyone. I am praying for you all. Bye!