It is a universal assumption that high school Freshmen are immature and not to be taken seriously. Let's face it, they generally don't take many things seriously, so why should they be taken seriously? They giggle at silly things like intestinal gas and find ways to associate everything you say with something inappropriate. In reality, we can learn a lot about ourselves and life by studying the behavior of a High school Freshmen.
Lesson One: Life is Funny… All the Time
As alluded to, Freshmen have a very cavalier attitude about life. They're very stress-free. This is because they have a high appreciation for fun. After all, life should be fun because living is fun! They expect and demand fun from life as we all should. You will not be restricted to a windowless classroom all your life and shouldn't be because that is called prison. Prison is not supposed to be fun. Freshmen often practice this casual attitude when they laugh at everything not intended to be humorous in class, but because they demand fun, they create it from nothing. Most people would label this attitude as immaturity, but it’s really just good health. Ten to fifteen minutes of laughter burns up to 50 calories. Multiplied by seven class periods and you’ve burned...... hold on, let me check my phone calculator... THIS MAN Y: 350 calories per day! That's equivalent to thirty minutes on a treadmill! Laughter decreases Stress, too.
Lesson Two: Life is Serious and Dramatic
Have you ever walked around the halls and come upon a huddle of Freshmen - one crying in the middle of a circle-hug? You show genuine concern and curiosity only to find out the catalyst is a now ended relationship... a relationship spanning two weeks. The lesson taught here is the importance of other people's emotions. For the common
Freshmen, everything is gauged on a scale of 1 to 3: one represents "How annoying”, two represents a curse word filled tantrum, and three represents IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE TKNOW IT!" Most events (90%) are a level three.
Imagine the strong camaraderie and genuine concern for others we would share if everyone was so attuned to the emotional well-being of friends? Maybe then we would all be volunteering to feed starving children… or at least give them a big group hug.
Lesson Three: It’s Important to Plan Ahead
Freshmen are great at planning ahead. No, maybe not at planning a day or week, or even a month ahead, but these visionaries are concerned with planning years ahead for the future. This is why they always present the classic inquiry "How will I use this in real-life?" Obviously, they’re focused on a successful and productive future; otherwise they wouldn't be asking questions at all. There's nothing wrong with demanding high expectations and being curious about their education and there's nothing wrong with preparing for the so-called "real world". We should be excited our young freshmen are so concerned for the future and their time in school. After all, no one likes to have their time wasted and a Freshman’s time is not to be wasted on frivolous concepts that may not be around in ten years when conquering the problems of the ''real-world".
Lesson Four: It’s Important to be Spontaneous!
Plans? What plans? Plans are boring! It's much more interesting (and fun) to live in the moment! Your day should be determined by the weather. If it’s sunny, go outside and play! If it's rainy, sleep in. Did you just hear the sounds of an ice cream truck just go by? Run after it even if you don't have money for ice cream! Life is an adventure and shouldn't be bogged down by frivolous agendas.
Lesson Five: The most important lesson is you can't really learn anything from Freshmen
Yeah... that's right. I would hope you picked up on that by now. It should also be noted it is a lot of fun trying to learn from Freshmen. There are lessons somewhere in their complicated behaviors, but you have to be a little patient and open minded – a genuinely good idea when it comes to life.
