Megan Dennis: #HowISurvivedHighSchool

#HowISurvivedHighSchool Part 6: A Promising Future

June 19, 2019

Welcome back!

Today I will be wrapping up my story on my high school experience. In case you’re new, I’ll drop the links for the previous parts here:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Out of all the parts I’ve done, I think I’m most excited for this one. I wanted to spend this last part talking about the future. As you probably know, I’m a daydreamer and I love to dream about unrealistic scenarios most of the time. However, I’m going to try to be a little more down to earth and not get too out of hand here. I think it’s important to separate dreams from goals. I believe goals are things you set in your mind to do and you continue to work towards them. On the other hand, dreams are merely just things you wish for but for the most part are unrealistic.

So now that we’ve differentiated the two, I’m going to start with the realistic stuff. If you don’t know already, I plan to attend community college for two years and get my associates in business administration and from there hopefully I will transfer to a state university to get my master’s degree. I feel that education is one of the most valuable assets you can have in life; so when I was thinking about what I wanted my future life after high school to look like I knew I wanted to put my education before anything else.

Aside from going to college full time, I plan to keep working throughout the school year as well as continue my online profiles (blogging, YouTube.) I have no idea what my schedule will be like come the school year, but I plan to post regularly as much as I can. I’ve learned throughout these years that there’s no point in having a set schedule because I feel like it’s important to only put out work that you’re proud of and I just can’t be proud of something I was under time pressure. So I’ve thrown the idea of schedules out the window and I’ll post when I make something that I’m proud of; whether that be once a week or once a month.

Many people have asked me about my relationship status or when I’ll have a boyfriend, get married, etc. I just tell them all that will happen in God’s timing, not mine. Society has changed over the years and relationships seem to move so quickly these days. People are getting married and having a family before 25 (which isn’t a bad thing don’t get me wrong), whereas I want more time to live and enjoy being young without those commitments. So that’s where I’m at right now and I’m also in the midst of working through a lot of personal issues with myself that I have to fix before I can even allow myself to think about dating.

I’m thankful for all the friendships I’ve formed throughout high school, with both girls and boys. I’m fortunate to have girl friends that I know will always have my back and I theirs. Girls that I’m able to talk about things I would never talk about with anyone else. I’m also thankful for the friendships I’ve formed with males. I have guy friends that are almost like brothers to me, who show me how real men are supposed to treat girls (my only confidence that the entire male population is not totally screwed.) It’s been a blessing to get to know so many amazing people over the years and I’m excited to meet many more throughout my college years.

People always laugh when they ask what I want my future life to look like and I answer with “well honestly I just want to do what I love, have a healthy God-honoring relationship and raise a family. Oh and can’t forget the house with a picket fence.” It’s the classic American dream. Not anything fancy; I have no desire to be a millionaire or have expensive clothes and expensive cars. I really just want a low-key life. That’s all. I dream about it every single day. For right now, though, I’m content with the life I have now. I’m enjoying my time being young for as long as I possibly can before I’m supposed to grow up and have everything together.

As I wrap up this chapter of my life, my heart is filled with gratitude. I’m thankful for all the memories I’ve made, people I’ve met, and experiences I’ve been able to have in high school. Some of them are happy, fond memories; others not so much, but there’s not much I would change about any of it. In other words, I can confidently close this portion of my life. I’m filled with hope for my future and all the new experience I’ll be able to share with you. I’ve never been more inspired to create and share the memories of my life and I’m forever thankful for every single person I’ve been able to reach through my writings and videos. Thank you for everything.

#HowISurvivedHighSchool

#HowISurvivedHighSchool Part 5: Building the Foundation of Good Repuation

June 13, 2019

Hello and welcome back!

I’m so happy that you’re here to join me for part 5 of the #HowISurvivedHighSchool series. If you missed out on any of the previous parts, you can catch up here:

First and foremost, before I get started with today’s post I want to take a minute to say thank you for all the support I’ve received on my last post. It was not an easy thing for me to put out there, but I really believe God wanted me to share that message because I think it’s a message that’s important for the young people to hear in the midst of a world where everything is sexualized and there’s so much peer pressure. So I just wanted to say a huge thank you for all the support and encouraging messages I received after last week’s post.

Today I want to talk about something that’s not only important in high school; but is something that will follow you for the rest of your life: your social reputation. Now I want to stress that this is not about caring what people think of you- that’s not it at all. What I mean is building a good reputation so you can earn respect from people around you. I’ve spent the last 4 years working on this particular aspect of life and let me tell you, having a good reputation will serve you very well in years to come. Basically you’re just doing yourself a favor now.

So what exactly does it mean to have a good reputation? Everyone has different definitions for what a good reputation is, but to me someone with a good reputation exhibits the following characteristics: holds themselves well in bad situations, has good time management skills, and acts maturely. You want to be known for having good characteristics, not bad ones. I can think of a few people I know who are just outstanding at what they do and people know them and love them for the good things they’ve done and their kindness. That is a good reputation. I also know a few people who fall into the opposite category. These people do not have the characteristics of a good reputation and are known only for the bad choices they’ve unfortunately made. That is not a good reputation.

Why then is it important to build your reputation in high school? As I mentioned before, starting now will benefit you later, especially when it comes to getting decent jobs, applying for colleges, etc. People who start to drift off to the wrong direction in high school are more likely to have difficulty with those things down the road. I see this all the time in society and I’m sure you have too. People who are getting out of jail really struggle with getting back on their feet and living a decent life because their crimes are now glued to their name.

I did a blog post awhile back on temptation. Let me tell you, temptation is a devil in high school. However, if you can fight it then, it will be much easier to fight it in the future. I think the reason temptation is so present in high school in particular is because everyone is so easily influenced and it’s easy to give into peer pressure. I remember one time a few years ago I took a character development class and we had to fill out this paper and on it was a list of questions and we had to answer how likely we were to give into bad situations. I remember filling out that paper and checking all the boxes that said “not very likely to” and afterwards thinking “would I actually be able to say no?” I think sometimes we can be so naïve and think “if it’s just this one time it won’t hurt me.” I’ve learned over and over that no matter how big or small it may seem there’s always going to be consequences.

There will always be consequences to every action. No one likes to hear that and I’m sorry I had to be the one to tell you, but hear me out because I’m trying to save you now. The worst part about being a good kid is watching others make the wrong choices and trying to be the one to tell them they don’t have to or shouldn’t do it. I’m tired of being the bystander to bad situations, witnessing things I wish I hadn’t seen, and hearing things I wish I had never heard. It’s hard. Especially when people are telling you “you’re so pure and boring, you don’t know how to have any fun.” But to me, five minutes of “fun” isn’t worth a lifetime of consequences. It just isn’t.

I’ve had people tell me before “it’s okay, sure I messed up but Jesus forgives me and still loves me.” As true as that statement is, it’s not a free pass to do stuff you know is wrong. We are lucky to serve a merciful, forgiving God but that is not an excuse to do whatever we want. Forgiveness does not erase the weight of our sin. Furthermore, we must confess and acknowledge our mistakes before we can even be forgiven. In Acts 3:19 it says, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”

If you gathered anything from this short message, I hope it will encourage you to stray from the temptations of high school and to not conform to the ways of this modern world. Sometimes it feels like you’re missing out on the fun you could be having now, but I promise in the long run you will be successful and the people who made the wrong choices will be the ones missing out on greater opportunities. It’s very rewarding, I promise you.

#HowISurvivedHighSchool

#HowISurvivedHighSchool Part 4: A Lesson on Purity

June 05, 2019

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Welcome back to the blog,

I don’t think I’ve ever been this nervous for a blog post. Part of my personality is to naturally be outspoken about topics that tend to offend a lot of people and this is probably one of those topics. Okay so I should probably start from the beginning and say that I first debated and wrestled with my brain about whether or not I should post this. This post has been on my list of topics I wanted to write about for longer than I can tell you. I’ve just always pushed it to the bottom because frankly I’m scared of the feedback I’m going to get after this. However, when I was planning this series, it just seemed to fit right in with the theme of high school. So today, folks, we’re going to talk about sex.

Since this a touchy and sensitive topic for some people, I’m going to remind you once again of my “rules” and that this will be a PG-13 rated post so please please please click out now if you feel like you can’t handle the intensity and sensitivity of this topic. I really would not like to receive phone calls from angry parents. Been there, done that. You might be asking, “What makes you feel so entitled to speak on this topic?” Bad experiences, mistakes, and other things I will get into later is the answer to that question. I’m 18 years old and this was a huge part of my high school experience so I believe I should be able to talk about it. As weird and awkward as this is for me, some 15 year old girl (or boy) out there needs to hear this message so I’m going to suck up the nerves and do this for them.

1. This is a 6 week series and a new part will be posted each Wednesday (so mark your calendars.)

2. I am NOT here to call anyone out or speak poorly of anyone I’ve encountered throughout my High School career. That’s not my vibe and my intentions of writing these posts are to encourage; not to bring anyone down.

3. I will be talking about certain people I’ve encountered and things I’ve experienced, but please know that NO NAMES will be mentioned; if a name has to be used it will be changed.

4. All the things I am going to tell you are true and are my stories that I have a right to tell.

5. Please read/listen with open ears and hearts.

6. Some of the topics I will be discussing are mature and very series at times so if you can’t handle the intensity, please feel free to click out at any time.

So, where do I begin? I should probably start when I first hit puberty. I was 12, I believe, at the time when I first began puberty and around that time is when I got “the talk.” I’m not here to explain the situation with the birds and the bees; so if you have no clue what I’m talking about then you should probably leave now. Anyways, after that conversation all I can remember is wanting to throw up and wanting nothing to do with sex for the rest of my life. However, your hormones change quite a bit during puberty so obviously my opinion about sex itself did change as I got older.

I was brought up in a very conservative household. I was baptized when I was 8 years old and have been a firm believer ever since. I was basically raised on the rule of abstinence until marriage. And that was always my plan until about 2 years ago, my stance wavered drastically. At that point I had never (and still have never) done anything physical with a guy more than kissing and holding hands. The thought of anything further actually made me uncomfortable. So I started talking to this guy, and you know how you can usually spot red flags pretty easily in the beginning? Well in this case there was a whole FIELD of red flags and my blind self still walked right past them. I shouldn’t say blind, though, because I could see them I was just very good at ignoring them.

So I ignored the signs, the red flags, even the voices of people telling me to get out as fast of possible. The thing about me is I like to see the best in people. I want to believe that despite what other people may say, everyone deserves a chance to prove the rumors wrong. Unfortunately I gave too many chances this time and he failed every single one of them. I wanted to believe everyone else was wrong and that they were just saying things to scare me. But I just ignored it and continued talking to this guy. I’m so naive sometimes that I actually scare myself.

About a month passes. Things are still going great and I remember at the beginning there were a few good moments when things actually seemed somewhat normal- except they weren’t. I remember one day we were talking (all this is taking place through text by the way, remember the conservative place I came from) and things started to progress very very quickly and one thing led to the next and that’s when it went downhill. Whenever I replay all this in my head, I evaluate each step carefully to see where I could have not made the mistakes I did. Every time it still ends the same way it did in real life.

So you might be wondering where and how things ended. Even though it was the worst experience I’ve ever been through to date, I can only thank God for saving me and taking me out of it when He did. I can’t even imagine how bad things would have gotten if I hadn’t gotten out of it when I did. You might be thinking this is the end of the story. If you did, you thought wrong. Six months went by. I was finally starting to recover and I had good friends surrounding me that summer so I kept busy. At the beginning of October, I got a message from this guy again. It was an apology. He apologized for everything that had happened and said he had gotten better. Looking back now it wasn’t enough of an apology for everything he had done to shatter every piece of dignity and confidence.

So once again, being the naive person I am, I ignored the signs and red flags. Just like the last time, things were good at first, although it was very difficult to be “just friends” with someone you shared such an intimate connection with. It didn’t last long. We fell into the same patterns and routines as last time, telling ourselves and each other the whole time that we were “just friends.” Just friends with benefits. A lot of benefits. As open as I may seem, there were things going on then and things that we did that were so wrong that to this day I’m too ashamed to share with anyone. That says a lot because I don’t keep a lot of secrets.

It was me who finally ended it once and hopefully forever. I was fed up with feeling guilty every day for what we were doing, mad at him for making ME feel guilty for saying no to him, not to mention he was starting to develop a drinking problem. It’s been about 3 months now and I finally feel like I’ve let go for good. I still wrestle with the weight of my sin every single day of my life and there’s rarely a day or night that goes by where I don’t think about it. And I know I’ll have to deal with the consequences one day when I have to explain things to my future husband. I may have not given everything away but I feel like a part of me has already been taken away from what I could’ve enjoyed in the future. But there’s nothing I can do about that now. All I can do is move forward and try to work on myself.

This story was very difficult to tell. But my hope is that some young girl can learn from this and not make the same mistakes as me. We live in a sexual world. And I feel like there is so much pressure on girls (and maybe guys too) to look a certain way and do certain things to be accepted by society and men specifically. Every time I open Instagram and see some model posing half-naked on my feed I just shake my head because there’s a 12 year old looking up to her and when she sees that she’s going to think she has to look like that or take pictures like that to have friends, followers, etc.

It’s hard not to fall into the trap. Especially as Christian women, we have to be on our guard and stand firm in our beliefs. I almost made an exception to my rule of staying pure until marriage. Without the wise counsel of some close mentors and friends, this post would probably have a completely different title. Just as I said a few posts back, surround yourself with people who will hold you accountable for your actions and keep you from going too far. I danced on that line but I never crossed it because the people that care about me held me back. And deep down, I knew myself and I knew I didn’t want to do it but sometimes that isn’t enough.

So girls, listen closely. This is some serious girl talk right here. Never, and I repeat NEVER, give in to something you don’t want to do just because a guy is guilt tripping you. Don’t fall into that trap. Furthermore, something to note about men in general: they are never satisfied. So if you think, I’ll just do this once and maybe they won’t ask again, you’re completely mistaken. Because they won’t stop asking and before you know it you’ve dug yourself into a hole that’s VERY hard to climb out of. You won’t have to worry about any of this though when you find the right person. Real men don’t guilt trip you or play with your emotions. Real men respect and won’t push you past the limits you’ve set. Know your worth and know that you’re worth a million bucks which I can pretty much guarantee no sixteen year old boy has in their bank account.

And guys. Read the paragraph above and flip it around. But I know some of ya’ll aren’t even smart enough to do that so I’ll spell it out for you. It’s really simple, girls like attention. At least most of us do anyway. But it’s not the kind of attention you like to give us. Actions mean more than words. If you say it, prove it. And appreciate who your partner is and what they do for you instead of always wishing for more. Because one day, if you don’t appreciate your girl, she’s going to leave you for someone who will. You do the math. So it’s really not so much about the big things but the little things that will make your relationship a success like compliments, flowers, and food (the way to win my heart just in case you were wondering.) You’re welcome- that was totally free dating advice.

I just finished watching a sermon before I wrote this about sex, and according to resources, married couples who attend church regularly have the best sex. And you wonder why I go to church every Sunday. I’m kidding, but for real though, putting your relationship with God FIRST will help you in your relationships with other people. This is why it’s so important to be with someone who also has a relationship with God because growing in your relationship with Christ will make you grow in your relationship with each other. Being on the same page when it comes to your beliefs will save you a lot of conflict in the future.

The worst part is the waiting. I’m a daydreamer so I enjoy thinking about the future and what I want my dream life to look like. Sometimes it helps to remind myself that good things come to those who wait. Each time another relationship fails, it’s just a sign that God has someone better out there for you. I know it’s difficult to believe, but don’t let go of that hope. After everything I’ve been through I haven’t because I’m holding on to believe that God has a better future for me. I’ve come to realize that despite the fact that your past cannot be changed, your future still can.

Lastly, if you’re a girl and you’re currently facing a situation similar to mine, please feel free to reach out to me. Don’t go through it alone. My socials will all be linked below and I’d be more than happy to talk with you about anything I mentioned in this post.

Email: beautyinthisbrokenness@gmail.con

Instagram: @beautyinthisbrokenness

Twitter: megan_dennis_

#HowISurvivedHighSchool

#HowISurvivedHighSchool Part 3: The Truth About Friends and Friendships

May 29, 2019

Hi there, welcome back to the blog!

Today I’m back with another part of #HowISurvivedHighSchool. I’d like to know, are you guys enjoying it? Is there anything specific you’d like me to talk about at some point during the series? Leave me a comment or connect with me on social media and let me know. Also, if you aren’t caught up with the first two parts, I’ll link them here:

As always, I’m going to copy and paste the “rules” I posted in the first post. It’s important for me to mention them every time because I don’t want anything I say here to be taken out of context.

1. This is a 6 week series and a new part will be posted each Wednesday (so mark your calendars.)

3. I will be talking about certain people I’ve encountered and things I’ve experienced, but please know that NO NAMES will be mentioned; if a name has to be used it will be changed.

4. All the things I am going to tell you are true and are my stories that I have a right to tell.

5. Please read/listen with open ears and hearts.

6. Some of the topics I will be discussing are mature and very series at times so if you can’t handle the intensity, please feel free to click out at any time.

So today I wanted to talk about a very important part of high school: friends. Friends play a very significant role in your life so I think it’s important to build ones that last. Unfortunately I’ve had very little luck with that, especially in high school, and I’ve learned that most people are going to come and go out of your life but there will always be those few people who come into your life and stay for a long time.

I remember at the end of 8^th grade I saw this post online and it said “the people you hang out with in middle school aren’t going to be around for all of high school” and now at the end of high school I can fully confirm that saying is 100% true. During high school everyone goes through so many changes and sometimes people don’t change with you. Furthermore, high school is vastly different from middle school; it’s almost like a totally different world. Everyone is basically trying to figure out themselves and who they are as a person. Sometimes this creates tension in your relationships.

So in high school there are these things called “cliques.” What that is essentially is a group of people that gravitate towards each other in large groups. In a sociology class I took a while back, we learned that people with similar personalities tend to form these cliques. However, from what I’ve seen, cliques are just another way to stereotype. You’ll see where this information comes into play when it comes to friendships in a moment.

Something I haven’t talked about much on here is my experience at co-op. Some of you probably don’t know what it is, so I’ll explain quickly. What it is basically is a group of homeschool families that meets weekly to have classes like art, science, and drama, in addition to the work at home. I was involved in my co-op for 8 years. Looking back, there were a few pleasant memories made, but for me it was just not a good environment for me to grow up in. Out of all the people that were there and friends I made, on this current day I am not in contact with any of them. I’ll get to why in a bit.

In my grade there were 3 cliques. The first one was made up of the “popular” kids, if you will. The second group was the kids who were the quiet, more introverted ones and the last group were the kids with disabilities. It sounds so stereotypical, but for the purpose of this post you need to know. As the years went on and we got older, it only became more stereotypical. In the beginning it was easy to do group activities because everyone talked to everyone, but the “popular group” only became more distant from everyone else.

You might be wondering where I fit into these groups. To be honest, I really didn’t fit into any of them; I just bounced around between all three because I really tried to get along with everyone. My longtime best friend was in the popular group so I spent a lot of time with them, but I didn’t really fit in with them and was often left out or in the back of the group. No big deal at first, I still hung around the other groups.

Then something happened in summer of 2014 that changed the course of my friendships with these people. I’m not going to take the time to explain what happened, but long story short me and one of the populars had a very public falling out on social media. It resulted in most people taking sides, and everyone pretty much took this other girl’s side. The situation itself is not significant anymore but the tension never left. Life went on though, this girl and I never reconciled (even after I made 2 attempts) but everyone else seemed to get along just fine.

There were some big problems with these people. The popular ones. There is a reason I eventually chose to distance myself from them. At co-op they were constantly having attitudes, making unkind remarks to other students, and just flat out acting stuck-up. There is no better word for it. There were major bullying issues and the adults did next to nothing about it. Some of them even contributed to the problems. People were skipping out of gym because the teacher always favorited the populars and the other kids weren’t treated fairly. Some of the behavior I witnessed from these kids makes me sick to my stomach to this day whenever I think about it. One time, one of the said popular kids said to my friend (and I quote) “I’m better than you.” I’m.better.than.you. No other context, just “I’m better than you.” I will never be able to erase that from my mind. And her attitude that came with it, her parents should be ashamed.

One thing I’ve learned after all these years is that sometimes you don’t realize how badly you’re being treated until that person is out of your life. The way things ended with these people was far from good terms, but I’m so happy they are out of my life because I have people in my life now that made me realize how bad these people were for me. I haven’t spoken to these people in two years. However, I have ran into them a few times in public since then and I have to say, for people who proudly call themselves “Christians”, their behavior towards me was far from Christian like. Little or no eye contact, pretending I’m not even there at all, not even a wave or smile. It’s really hard to believe they were what I once called my best friends.

After going through a very, very dark and scary period of my life in 2017, things finally started to look up. I wasn’t feeling depressed anymore, I actually wanted to leave my house, and I met some new amazing people who have changed my life. People who genuinely care about me, make time to spend with me, and aren’t ashamed to be seen with me. They helped me get to a better place in my life and allow me to be myself. I thank God for giving me the strength to let the bad ones go and for bringing better people into my life.

There’s a quote by Alexander Graham Bell that I think beautifully illustrate this: “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” I like to remind myself of this whenever a relationship ends or an opportunity falls through. There is always a reason and most of the time it’s because God is making room for bigger and better things. So if things aren’t going well right now, just remember that it could be a sign that there are better things coming.

I want to be completely honest with you for a moment. I recently celebrated my graduation (which I’ll be talking about in an upcoming post) and I had three friends show up. Now I had plenty of other people too, but my point is, you can have all the friends in the world but out of all those there will only be a few real ones. I didn’t even think about the people who didn’t come because I’m thankful I have three really good friends that took the time to celebrate my graduation with me. I’d take that over having many fake friends any day.

So if you take away anything from this post, here’s three main points I want you to remember. First, don’t hangout where you know you don’t fit in. Second, let go of those unhealthy relationships in your life! Remember, when a door closes another one opens. Third, value your close friends. They are the ones that are going to be around for a long time.

#HowISurvivedHighSchool

#HowISurvivedHighSchool Part 2: We're Not All the Same

May 22, 2019

Hey there, welcome back to my blog!

In case you haven’t heard, I’m in the middle of a series called #HowISurvivedHighSchool. If you clicked on this post and saw the title, you should already know. So this is going to be part 2, but if you haven’t read part one, you can read that post here.

In the last post I made some “rules” about this series. I’m going to post them again in every post just so we’re all in the same understanding. Today I’m going to talk about some pretty heavy stuff so feel free to click out at any point.

1. This is a 6 week series and a new part will be posted each Wednesday (so mark your calendars.)

3. I will be talking about certain people I’ve encountered and things I’ve experienced, but please know that NO NAMES will be mentioned; if a name has to be used it will be changed.

4. All the things I am going to tell you are true and are my stories that I have a right to tell.

5. Please read/listen with open ears and hearts.

6. Some of the topics I will be discussing are mature and very series at times so if you can’t handle the intensity, please feel free to click out at any time.

Today I want to address something that is becoming a huge issue in our society: the fact that teenagers are gaining such a bad reputation in society and how I avoided being “one of those kids”. I want to speak mostly to my younger audience, but I want the older ones to listen with open ears so that maybe you’ll understand that we aren’t all the same.

So one time I was at work and just to give you a little background of this story, it was pretty early in the morning and I hadn't had enough coffee yet to get me going. It was also the day after the 4th of July and the night before I was up late working at the county fair so you can imagine how tired I was. Anyway, this lady sitting at the counter says to me “you look like you were up late partying.” Now keep in mind I did know her and knew she was only joking, but it got me thinking. I thought, “Well that's probably what most people my age did last night so no wonder someone would assume something like that.”

I think the reason my generation has such a bad reputation these days is due to the small fraction that do choose to go down the wrong paths. Those are the ones who you see in the news stories. “Local teens vandalize park equipment”, “a group of teens were found guilty in a drug case”, and so forth. You rarely ever see people my age make the news for something good. It’s depressing, really. While we’re on the topic, just a small piece of advice: don’t read the news. It really puts a damper on your potential to live care free.

So what causes kids to go down the wrong path? There are many answers to this question and it all depends on the case you’re looking at. Some possibilities can be mental health, physical health, bad influences, and family. Now I’m not a psychologist or anything but I can tell you almost every single person I know personally who has had drug/alcohol problems also has family issues at home. Which actually makes sense if you think about it; compare the divorce rate (40-50%) to the percentage of teens who have misused drugs (50%) and alcohol (63%.) This is certainly not the case with every teen, but there is clearly a relationship between the two.

Enough statistics though, I want to tell you a little bit about how this relates to my life and how it affected my High School career. First and foremost, I want to say that I have never misused any type of drug or drank any type of alcohol during my High School career. Period. Why? The short answer is frankly because it doesn’t sound appealing to me. Now let me make it clear that because we’re talking about High School there is ALWAYS the pressure to “do what everyone else is doing” and to “fit in with the crowd.”

The devil is very good at filling our minds and ears with tempting thoughts. I along with probably almost every single High Schooler in America have struggled with temptation at some point or another. It’s difficult when you’re still growing up and figuring everything out and the people around you are already dealing with adult issues. I think one of the hardest parts is being in the middle and watching someone you love destroy their life and their relationships because they gave into the temptation.

One of the biggest reasons that keeps me from being one of them is because I’ve seen this happen over and over again to people I know and love dearly. It’s heartbreaking because they get so caught up in being on this high and feeling good that they don’t realize how they’re destroying their life until it’s too late. And you can’t even help them because they’re so bound to this new lifestyle. I had someone one time trying to convince me that smoking weed is good for you. You have to be head deep in lies to believe that. I suppose it makes people feel better about themselves if they try to twist their addiction into something that “benefits their health.”

The best thing you can do in your High School career to avoid being caught up in the same lies as everyone else is to surround yourself with the right people. It only takes one unhealthy relationship to develop the same habits as them and I think that’s what happens to a lot of people in High School. Find people who will make sure you’re staying on the right path and will hold you accountable for your actions. It is much easier to go to someone and say “hey, I’m struggling with temptation again. Can you help me?” Then to try to fight it yourself.

No one prepared me for some of the issues that I had to deal with. The thing was, they weren’t my own issues but they still affected me nonetheless. People always taught me how to say no to being peer pressured into it myself but no one taught me how to help others who are struggling with it. No one prepared me for the phone call I got one night from a friend after a bad breakup saying they had one too many beers that night. No one prepared me to watch someone get kicked out of youth group because they were high. The only thing worse than dealing with the issues yourself is being a bystander and watching it happen to someone else. That will always be enough reason for me to say no.

I have too good of a life to just throw it all away for a high that’s only temporary. I’ve worked hard to be respected in society and part of that is not involving myself in things that could potentially ruin the reputation I’ve worked so hard to gain. And I hope and pray that this message opens the eyes of someone who may be struggling with one of these issues. Because trust me, once you get to the point in your life where you’re happier than any drug or drink makes you; you won’t ever want to change that.

National drug/alcohol Helpline: 1-888-633-3239

#HowISurvivedHighSchool

#HowISurvivedHighSchool Part 1: 7 Myths About Homeschoolers

May 15, 2019

Hi there, welcome back to the blog!

Today I am coming at you with a very special post/announcement: there is going to be a new series on this blog and guess what? It starts TODAY. My apologies for the short notice but I wasn’t sure if this was going to be a thing or not. I had this idea awhile back when I was contemplating on what kind of post I wanted to do in spirit of me graduating this year. I came up with a couple ideas and finally decided that there were too many things I wanted to talk about and it just wouldn’t all fit in one blog post (or it’d be so long that you all would be sleeping by halfway through it.)

So thus was born the #HowISurvivedHighSchool series. And yes, the dramatic title was indeed my own original creation. I'm super excited and also very nervous to share these next few posts with you. I feel like for the last year or so I’ve been a very private person and just haven’t shared much with you guys so I’m really going to try to be as much as an open book as possible which sounds totally scary if I’m being honest.

Before I get started with part one, I want to make a few general points about this particular series:

1. This is a 6 week series and a new part will be posted each Wednesday (so mark your calendars.)

3. I will be talking about certain people I’ve encountered and things I’ve experienced, but please know that NO NAMES will be mentioned; if a name has to be used it will be changed.

4. All the things I am going to tell you are true and are my stories that I have a right to tell.

5. Please read/listen with open ears and hearts.

6. Some of the topics I will be discussing are mature and very series at times so if you can’t handle the intensity, please feel free to click out at any time.

Okay so with all that out of the way, I want to jump straight in to part one. I want to spend this first part telling you guys exactly what I do all day: aka “Behind the Scenes of a Homeschooler.” I feel like there are a lot of misconceptions of homeschooling in general and I want to take some time to tell you guys exactly what is and isn’t true about us “weird kids.”

1. Homeschoolers don’t actually study, we just sit around and watch Netflix in our pjs

This is definitely not true in my case. I can only speak for myself, of course, so there may be kids out there that do this but I try to be as productive as possible each day. Now there are definitely some days where I’m just lazy but for the most part I like to wake up and get things done. As you know, I do have a part time job along with blogging and doing YouTube as hobbies so I definitely try to balance all of that throughout my week.

Being homeschooled definitely teaches you a lot about time management. There’s no bell to signal the start and end of the school day or the pressure to complete assignments by a certain time. You have to decide all this for yourself; which is good and bad for some cases. It took me almost my whole High School career to finally develop a good routine that works for me.

2. You don’t have a social life

This is one of the biggest myths of homeschooling. People automatically assume that because we stay at home for school that we never leave the house. If only. No, for me it’s been quite the opposite: I have too much of a social life. Okay so I have to admit, I’m not a very social person to begin with. At events you can usually catch me in the corner, probably eating. So having a social life has never been an issue for me but again, it could be different for others.

I’ve had people my age who aren’t homeschooled tell me “I would love to be homeschooled but I would miss the social part of school.” People who attend public school definitely have the advantage when it comes to extracurricular activities. Most school districts won’t allow homeschoolers to be on their football team, join Latin club, etc. I would like to see that change but that’s a whole other blog post.

I really think there are plenty of opportunities out there for homeschoolers. I’ve been an active 4-H member for 6 years; I’ve been a part of several Youth Groups, as well as activities at my local library. So for me, socializing has never been an issue. There are many activities to get involved in; it just may require looking a little harder.

3. You don’t have friends

This goes along with the previous assumption but I wanted to quickly address this on its own. I’m going to talk about friendship in an upcoming part to this series, but as far as making friends as a homeschooler I really don’t think it’s that hard. As long as you put yourself out there (ex. Youth Groups, 4-H, book clubs), it’s not much different than how everyone else makes friends. The only difference is you don’t go to school with them every day and sometimes I think that’s a good thing.

4. There’s no drama

FALSE. I literally have to restrain myself from laughing whenever people say they think there’s no drama when you’re homeschooled. We live in a drama-prone world where no matter where you are there’s going to be some type of drama- unless of course you live under a rock.

I remember when I was younger and I had just started middle school. I had such high hopes and I thought once you got to middle school that life would be so much fun and it would be like in the movies where I’d hang out with friends all the time, go on fun trips together, etc. I really can’t explain what my expectations were but I never thought it would actually be completely different than my vision.

Looking back, I have a lot of regrets of things I wish I hadn’t done, people I wish I never would have spoken to, and all the different ways things could have gone better. Every day I think about how I wish people from middle school could see me now and see how far I’ve come. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, though, it’s that the best thing to do is let go and move on. It’s a hard principle to learn but you’ll gain so much if you apply it to your life.

5. You never leave the house

Once there was a week where it felt like I was only home to sleep. However, people seem to think that we don’t have any kind of life outside of school which is not true at all. Honestly your life is what you make out of it so there’s always the option to never leave the house but I would probably lose my sanity if I stayed home all the time. I think it’s important to put yourself out there in the outside world because there will definitely come a day where you absolutely can’t be in your room all day long.

6. People are homeschooled because they got expelled

This assumption comes straight from what someone said to me just the other day. We were talking and they said “I think some people are homeschooled because they got expelled from school.” What?!?! I have yet to meet anyone who is homeschooled due to that reason but I suppose it’s always possible. I had never even thought of that before, which is why I wanted to include it. So now I’m going to be insecure when I tell people I was homeschooled because what if people assume that?

7. That homeschoolers don’t get to go to college

Again this is something someone said to me awhile back but I’ll never forget it. If homeschoolers didn’t go to college, how would they get jobs? Our economy would literally be failing if for instance everyone was homeschooled but we couldn't go to college. Surprisingly, homeschoolers are more often accepted into colleges than schooled applicants. Why? Because homeschooled students spend more time studying what they are interested in rather than being forced to study the same things as everyone else.

So yes, we do get to go to college.

Well that wraps up this post! I hope maybe this provides you with a better understanding of what being homeschooled is like and that we’re not all the weirdos some people make us out to be. Make sure to stay tuned for next Wednesday for part 2 of #HowISurvivedHighSchool.

Pages

#HowISurvivedHighSchool Part 6: A Promising Future

#HowISurvivedHighSchool Part 5: Building the Foundation of Good Repuation

#HowISurvivedHighSchool Part 4: A Lesson on Purity

#HowISurvivedHighSchool Part 3: The Truth About Friends and Friendships

#HowISurvivedHighSchool Part 2: We're Not All the Same

#HowISurvivedHighSchool Part 1: 7 Myths About Homeschoolers

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