20 Nov 2022 | 3 mins

1. The future

With your whole life ahead of you there will be a myriad of exciting, wonderful things coming your way. Your twenties will be the first time in your life it is completely up to you to choose what you want to do. If you’re studying you choose your own degree, if you’re working you can choose where you work. 

And if you are still unsure about where life is about to take you, there are so many things out there to try that it is impossible not to keep yourself busy. For some of us it is really important to find yourself through working different jobs or travelling the world or road tripping. And what's exciting is the coming weeks, months and years are the perfect time to do that. 

2. The good and the bad

High School was filled with unlimited good, but there was also the tough and the endlessly boring. School always had that one subject you couldn’t get around and just wasn’t for you.

By remembering all the good and all the bad it can help to feel more ready to leave school behind.

3. No more of that one subject

No more maths, or english, business studies, economics or physics. They taught us lots but it really is time to be free of them.

Whichever subject was the bane of your existence, and made you really regret letting your Year 11 self choose your subjects for the next two years, you are now free of. No more butting heads with your teacher because the concepts of the subject just fundamentally don’t make sense, and no more cramming endless knowledge, quotes, equations and stats for a 3 hour exam at the end of the year.

4. Keep busy

Coming to terms with leaving behind high school can be particularly hard if you don’t keep yourself busy. All the memories from year 7,8,9,10 and 11 swirl around in your head in endless cycles of "oh my, why was I so embarrassing!"

Don’t let those thoughts catch up with you and keep busy. Get out in the sun and go to the beach, go bike riding, have a picnic, watch the sunrise and sunset in one day, go shopping, or even go for a maccas run! There are endless possibilities to spend your newfound time, so get out there and use it. Enjoy the time away from the confines of adult responsibilities and just enjoy life.

5. Feel the feelings

If getting out of the house is not the way to get your mind off school and start feeling excited for the future, maybe some more reminiscing is key.

Grab your friends, or even family, find a fire pit, get the marshmallows out and let the good times roll. To find the joy in this new chapter of your life, accepting the passing and ending of these memories is absolutely the first step.

You are allowed to be sad, you are allowed to be happy. Your high school experience was unique to you and so remembering, acknowledging and letting out these memories can be the most soothing of ways to feel the excitement for the future.