Graduation is just a short four months away for the class of 2001, and I have already, like most seniors, began to think about my post high school plans. Aside from college, I have recently been consumed with thoughts of post high school life in general. I have been told by all of my older friends that life doesn't really begin until after graduation, that high school is just a cruel preparation for the worst parts of life. If this is true, then high school is just a crash course in the darkest aspects of the human experience: rejection, gossip, and social status. Is what we learn in high school really what we use to "get by" in a society that is truly based on looks, status, and money?

Any logical person would argue that it doesn't matter who you were in high school, your success will not be measured by how popular you once were. A job application does not ask if you were voted Prom king or queen or if you were an all-star athlete. But do such "accomplished" individuals grasp what it is to be successful in life from how they got it in high school? Is the workplace a similar environment where gossip and rumors can ruin someone forever? I think not. Actually, I know that this does not hold any truth whatsoever.

Some argue that as preparation for life (and depending on how you got by) the high school experience will be repeated throughout your entire life. If you got ahead by squashing those whom you considered inferior, you may become a Fortune 500 businessman. If you remained hidden, never speaking up, you may work in cramped cubicle taking orders from the football player who used to mock you. There are infinite scenarios. None of these, however, I choose to believe.

Being the nerd or outcast may give you the most preparation for life ahead. You are already immune to rejection and know that not everything is handed to you on a plate. Some of the greatest minds, entertainers, entrepreneurs, musicians, and leaders were self-proclaimed geeks. Although, I do think that Suzanne Sommers might have been popular, but don't quote me on that one.

Does high school really prepare us for survival in society? The cliques that "define" so many aspects of individual's personalities in high school will not "define" these people their entire lives. Not every stereotyped cheerleader will become pregnant immediately following graduation, nor will every geek become a millionaire after starting up his or her own dot.com businesses. Knowing this to be true, then why is so much energy wasted on dehumanizing every person you dislike or disagree with?

What we take from high school is as varied as are our personalities. For some, it will be remembered as the best times of their lives, a time when they achieved social status without any admirable merit. But what it took to be revered as a teenager in a suburban high school in no way relates to what it takes to achieve the same status in the real world. Break away from the temptations of conformity, and stay true to your inner self. This may be the best preparation for what lies ahead.