When we were in middle school, teachers and staff told us, “High school teachers are more strict and won’t accept excuses.” Come to find out, they are mostly understanding and willing to help you succeed in any way possible. In high school, you’re told, “Well, just wait until you’re in the real world.” But what does this actually mean?

What is it high schoolers should expect after graduating and moving onto college or a job? Even the challenge of food and housing presents itself as an overwhelming agenda. Imagine it: Moving out of home and living on your own. Many find themselves worrying about the unknown of the future. 

Olivia Parry, a junior in college at Augustana University says,

“Some responsibilities to take on being in college vs at home, are things that normally a parent or guardian would take care of.” Moving out means taking care of things, such as, making sure your home is still in one piece. 

With these new responsibilities, comes accountability. Olivia adds, “Another thing would be understanding that you don’t have a parent there to clean up after your mess or mistakes or even help you with tasks, so making time to finish all the tasks that need to be done is a challenge.”

This means no one will come do your laundry if you let it pile up, or clean up the dishes left in the sink. Staying organized and on top of things around the house is an important habit. What about having roommates? Not only do you be accountable for yourself, but also for others. 

If the path you take after high school is college or a University, you could find yourself in a dorm with a stranger. Olivia came across this very issue. Other than a couple conversations online,  she didn’t know her roommate at all freshman year. Living in tight quarters with someone new can be tough.

For Olivia, “It was really hard to adjust to living with roommates, especially with someone that you are not very close with. This was very hard because you lived very different home lives, and habits may not align with each other, making it really hard to live together cohesively.”

As you step out of high school, though you’re young, you’re no longer a child. As you grow up, your hand is held, and you walk down sidewalks by the comforting sides of parents and guardians. For the first time, college allows kids to let go of the grasp, and begin paving their unique, individual paths. No longer will you be treated as a child, but now for the adult that you are.  

Sophia Best, a junior at Wilsonville says, “I feel like the majority of adults talk down to me or talk to me as if I was a child.” Kylie McCormick, also a Junior, feels she is treated like a child, but expected to act like an adult. 

Olivia notes that college professors are quicker to respect you and treat you as an adult. You get stuck in a bubble that is high school, feeling like it is your whole life. But the following years after become the most challenging, confusing, yet ultimately, is the chance to decide where one goes and who they shape to become.