Lessons Learned Can Be Applied Later

What I’ve learned from Lakeside’s graduating class applies to a wide scope of society.

Stuck in a small school with the same people for 720 days could quite possibly qualify - or even be defined - as hell. Matter of fact, it brings to mind Stephen King’s “The Stand,” wherein a small number of people are continually, without choice, brought into contact.

Both the book and high school study how long patience and tolerance - two qualities already lacking abundance - can endure extreme situations.

I’ve had my fair share of confrontations with people I couldn’t bare to recognize as such. For one reason or another, I disliked them or even hated them.

Four year though is a long time to be stuck. So, as the unabashed quirks of the quirky, the unrelenting taunts of the teasers and the obvious knowledge of the knowledgable brought tensions to a rise, we humans rose above our surroundings by … hearing the bell and rushing to gossip.

Most of us do this. And I did it. Until one crowded break, when weaving through highway hallways, I saw an adversary of mine pick up a gum wrapper off the floor. I did a doubletake.

Then, while working on a senior slideshow and looking through baby pictures, the meaning of a poem I’d previously misunderstood began to make sense. Mayo Angelou wrote: “I note the obvious differences/ between each sort and type/but we are more alike, my friends/than we are unalike.”

Finally, my stale way of thinking had acknowledged that Lakeside’s graduating class, at the very least, most certainly was.

Simply step back and look down upon your experiences without bias. Through and over time, our reflections will agree.