There comes a time in every teen's life when they open their eyes. It seems like through grammar and middle school we've all been walking without sight. We see but we do not understand since our lives are color coded by our parents and sugar coated to be PG 13. However, we all come to the realization sooner or later - the world isn't as great as we thought. In high school, we are all thrust into a whole new environment where everyone wants to get to the top. Everyone struggles to be the most popular or the prom queen or the most likely to succeed or the star athlete. The sad truth is that once kids enter high school they feel like they have to do something big in order to not seem like the little fish in the big pond. They try to transform themselves- bend themselves into some mold of the cookie cutter high school student in order to make the transition easier. They want to be liked and they want to be cool. So often, kids forget that they can let their guard down and still turn out alright. Everyone makes mistakes and no one is the best at everything. Simply put, just because you were the valedictorian at your grammar school, it doesn't mean you'll even be the top 15 % of your high school BUT THAT'S OKAY. The whole idea of high school is to discover yourself and discovering yourself means putting yourself out there- try new things. Fail miserably at new things or succeed triumphantly - it does not matter. YOU WILL FAIL EVENTUALLY. IT IS INEVITABLE. 

You only go through high school once so don't waste it by going through it as the "cool kid" from that movie you watched last weekend.