What I'll Miss Most from High School

Six weeks ago, I walked across the stage at graduation and officially concluded my high school career. And honestly, I'm grateful it's over. I wanted to get "real life" started and was fine leaving behind the land of childish drama and awkward teenagers.

But that doesn't mean I didn't have a good time in high school, because I had an absolute blast. From each new first day of school to each school dance to each assembly, I genuinely enjoyed my high school experience. I know that not everyone can say that, and I feel bad for the people who can't. High school, for me, was a time where I discovered who I was and what made me happy. Once I had those things figured out, I just made sure to make every moment one I would want to remember.

Long story short: it was a fun three years.

But as I was reflecting on my high school experience, I realized that there is one thing I will miss from high school more than anything else. There are many aspects of high school that I wish I could experience again, but there is absolutely nothing I will miss more than football season.

Ah yes, good old football season. The times where you would get hundreds of high school students to cram together into stands that were too small to hold them all and had them watch a game that many of them didn't know the rules of.

What a great time.

And before you guys think about calling me out for being fake and saying, "Yeah, it would have been easy to like football season when your team wins every single game," WAIT.

Here's the thing. I did enjoy going to Bingham High School and having a really really good football team. But if you think that I only enjoyed the experience of football games for the feeling of winning, you're dead wrong.

And here's why.

During my sophomore year of high school, Bingham had an incredible team, finishing off a near-perfect season with the state championship (Bingham's only regular season loss came in overtime to Bishop Gorman, a school from Las Vegas, Nevada, then ranked #2 nationally, by a score of 23-20). Over their four playoff games, Bingham outscored their opponents by a combined score of 121 to 12. They were a phenomenally dominant team, but I didn't really care. Why?

I DIDN'T GO THERE.

I attended sophomore year at West Jordan High School, whose football team was, well, not as good as Bingham's. During our season, we won a grand total of three games. Out of eleven.

Fact: I still have the jersey I'm wearing in this picture, and it's one of my favorite pieces of clothing that I own.

Oh, the good old Black & Blue

But what matters is the fact that I still went to each and every game and still cheered as loudly as I could even when we were bound to lose. The thing is that I didn't care about the score of the game as much as I cared about the experience of being there.

So yeah, going to Bingham and winning almost every game was absolutely sick. But the wins aren't what made the memories so special. I loved football season because I loved the atmosphere. I loved the fact that so many people (parents, students, friends, even teachers) came out to support the kids on the field. I had so much fun cheering myself to death for those kids, in the hopes that my support would give them just one more yard.

And so I guess what I'm trying to say is that I loved football games for more than the game. I definitely enjoy the sport of football, but just being there is an experience all on its own. Joining in on the rowdy cheers, watching intently as each play is carefully planned out and executed, the excruciating frustration of a dropped pass or a bad call... It's all part of something I will cherish forever.

I only attended one game as a Bingham Miner where we lost. This picture is from that game.

A rare time when I wasn't the one behind the camera

Going all out for the theme of each game made it so fun. Can we take a sec and appreciate the pink booty shorts though?

As I was thinking about how much I'll miss putting on funny clothes and cool facepaint to support my friends on the field, I realized that what really made football games so fun was one thing: the unity.

Each person at each game wanted their side to win, and this common hope brought everyone closer together. I'm not saying that each person was best friends with one another, but it was easier to let the cliques fade away as you were celebrating a touchdown with everyone else.

So really, football games were so fun because the school spirit was so real and so present. Everyone was happy to be there, and it was just an overall great time. Although I know my time in high school has come to a close, there are times I wish I could relive those Friday night lights just one last time. Alas, I must be off to bigger and better things. At least I have the memories.

To the high school kids reading this who still have football games left: cherish them. You'll miss them when they're gone, I promise.