Taylor Sullivan
Sugar Beet staff reporter
High school relationships are something that never quite work out. Every so often you might find an old married couple that were high school sweethearts, but find such a couple is rare. In my opinion there is one specific type of relationship that holds the most importance as well as value, and that is the relationship with your parents.
Garden City High School has so far been a decent place to learn, I have had the chance to experience different activities and meet new people. Though these opportunities expand your possibilities, high school still has its downfalls.
Achieving and maintaining decent grades, surpassing in sports, and keeping up with all other extra-curricular activities, does not always fall in a steady path. With all the miscellaneous events going on in an average high school student’s life, it is easy to fall into a state of confusion or even depression.
Students cope with this “high-school depression” in various ways, whether it be taking out aggression in sports or sulking at home. What I have noticed in particular this sophomore year is the relationship between seniors and their parents. I know many of them who say they tell their parents anything and everything that goes on in their lives. As I have been observing this, it has forced me to think about my current relationship with my parents. I love both my mom and my dad, I want to make this clear. I am extremely grateful for all of the crazy things they have pulled through for and done for me. They both are such loving and generally good people. Though this is true, I cannot help but notice that a growing distance has been placed between us. I feel as if the usual “how was work” or “how was school” has become a routine that we feel obligated to follow. Knowing this tears me apart.
High school is something that nobody should have to go through alone. It is a time for drastic changing and is usually when people discover who they truly are. Parents are like a strong backbone that stand tall to support us. Without them things would surely fall apart. They are supposed to be the people you turn to for advice, tell about a big date, or that you made a certain varsity team. I would like to think that parents should serve as an advisory best friend, people who you can trust the most. I fear that if I do not start to share my life with my parents more, I will lose their trust. I have a tendency to feel like they do not trust me or have lost faith in me.
Though I feel devoid of their trust, I find myself lacking trust in them only a different way. This trust that I lack is because I do not trust that I will do well enough for my parents, or “meet their standards.” Maybe what I need to accomplish is a type of trust where I know whatever the circumstances they will continue to love and accept me.
My hopes for the rest of 2009 is to build the relationship between my parents and I. Not only is this something that I want but I also believe it to be a necessity. I need my parents in my life, and not just for food and a place to live. I need to talk to them, to live with them, and ultimately to share with them. Sharing experiences only makes them even more memorable and meaningful. There is no substitute for the spot parents fill in a child’s life. I am so adjusted to my life with parents, I am not sure how much I would achieve without them.
Knowing and realizing this, I should take advantage of the privilege of having parents and make the effort to have a relationship with them. Having said this, I have only one recommendation to the students of GCHS. I am not proposing a challenge but rather an encouragement. I encourage those who are currently struggling with their parents to try and understand them and to trust them.
Garden City High School 