As the local classes of 2025 start graduating high school, I’m reminded of my own almost 20 years ago.
Recently, I’ve had conversations with former classmates on how our lives have progressed, and have heard that I haven’t changed much since then.
In the heat of the moment, I just give the comment a little chuckle and continue on whatever else we’re talking about.
Though now that I have time to sit down and think on it, I think I’ve changed a lot – whether that’s positive or negative really isn’t a factor for me.
Overall, I just count it as learning moments and personal growth.
Sometimes, I might revisit them for reflection during difficult times.
Of course, those events have varied widely from losing friends and loved ones to attending college in San Angelo and even the broken leg saga.
Memories of those trials also serve to remind me that I’ve been through so much and am stronger for it.
I know for a fact, if you would’ve told high school Jessica about all she’d endure following her senior year, then she’d just roll her eyes at you and dismiss it.
I’m also sure that if you had a time machine to go back to 2005 then you might hear my mom trying to grace me with similar pearls of wisdom – which I mostly ignored.
Adversity and challenges are prime settings that seem to only be appreciated after they’ve been completed!
Now, whether that completion is something we expected and craved or something we actually needed just depends on what we need to learn from said experience.
I also have a lot of friends who just view those situations through a video game lens.
In most storyline-based videogames, you have tasks to accomplish and roles to fulfill that are pre-arranged, almost like fated paths to explore.
Some games offer more open-ended narratives that also have far too many unique combinations to ensure a diverse adventure at every turning point.
I rather believe that life is like a mix of both game types and features far too many options to make decisions easy until you gain more experience – like growing into adulthood.
At a general glance, most high school graduates have had less real-world experience in the past.
However, today’s seniors have access to more thanks to the internet and progress we’ve made as a society – more options, as it were.
Mom and I talk about this all the time and agree that it’s a double-edged sword that helps some and harms others.
We barely had dual-credit classes when I was in school, and online learning was a pipe dream reserved for the well-funded universities versus community colleges.
Not to mention, there weren’t many scholarship opportunities then either.
Trade schools were hit or miss across the landscape and weren’t marketed or pushed as much as they are now.
And I still maintain that forcing a child to decide their future in the eighth grade is detrimental in the long run, but I’m not an educator or psychologist.
My thought has always been, how do you know what you want to do for the rest of your life if you can’t even drive a car or vote yet?
All I’m saying is that life sure has a funny way of circling back when you least expect it.
