How High School Shaped Me

Going to a college prep high school was the event that shaped me into who I am today, but in a different way than many would expect. My highschool was set up in a way that one would finish high school in two years, then take 3 college classes at osu over their junior year and then have a full college freshman schedule their senior year. When I first started out, I was determined to accomplish this goal so, and with such determination comes with a lot of stress.

My first two years of high school were the most stressful times of my life, and the same went for my peers. There would be competitions on who got the least amount of sleep that week because of all the studying we had to do. None of us really got into sports or clubs (mainly because my school didn't have them) but because we would go to school for 8 hours and then come home and study for 6 hours. The stress of getting mastery (you needed a 90% in the class to pass it) got to us all that when we got a B in a class or less than a perfect grade on a test, we believed that it was a reflection of our self worth, which I now understand is completely false.

My confidence over the years had plummeted when it really should have shot up. I had a terrible self image and soon realized that I needed to do something for my mental health. I started out with my physical health by going to the gym and taking spin classes every week. This developed into wanting to be more socially active so I got more involved in my church and started talking to people who truly cared about my well being. Things didn’t start falling into place until I started changing my thoughts and practicing