Hindsight is 20/20 — particularly when it comes to high school. The stressful blur of a hellhole you were so happy to escape looks a lot less daunting and miserable through the lens of real adult life.
So Redditors jumped at the opportunity to be condescending adults and share what they most regretted not doing in high school.
So, angsty pubescent teens, listen up: here are regrets from your wiser elders.
I regret not taking courses that I was interested in such as music, art, and social sciences. I signed up for courses like physics, chemistry and advanced mathematics in favor of my parents' wishes. I struggled in many of my classes and had very bad grades. That led to low self esteem, self-doubt and depression. My grades were so low that i wasn't qualified to apply for many programs in college. But everything turned out okay for me in the end. I end up studying design and fine arts later in college and university. I've been working as a creative for the last 15 years and i'm happy now. I wish had pursued my passion earlier though.
Paying attention. Especially in Science classes. Chemistry was and is a foreign language to me. I am also shocked that I made it through Algebra considering I struggled with Math in middle school. Pay attention in class kids, don't let your mind wander to imagining what you would do if there was a school shooter or how to seduce your hot AF teacher.
Changing friend groups earlier. Randomly last semester of senior year I just started spending time with new people and it significantly improved my life, I wish I just took the plunge earlier
Some jerks nominated me for homecoming queen as a joke (you could clearly hear them snickering as they said my name) and I declined. I wish I could go back and accept it. I could be the homecoming queen for the nerds and everyone who ever got nominated as a joke.
I never had a "teenage rebellion" phase. I find myself kinda wishing that I had taken risks and tried to have fun while I still had the protection and forgiveness that comes from being a kid. Now, I have much fewer experiences than my peers...
Setting a better example for my younger siblings who were in middle school at the time. My high school reputation haunted them years after I graduated.
I was in a morning detention (before school starts) in the basement. When it was over, I went down the hall and through the breeze way where the bathrooms were. When I left the bathroom, a full grown buck came charging at me but changed direction last second, ran down the hall and started ramming lockers. My Dean was down there and told me to run to the office to get help.
