1) The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. So is coffee. In high school, we don't sleep anymore. We burn our crippled dreams for the energy just to get out of bed.

2) We respect our teachers about as much as we respect our waiters.  This year, the school board threatened to cut salaries and and lengthen the road to tenure because they thought they could get away with it. The teachers almost went on strike. Because apparently the people in charge of raising America’s youth, the people who turn teenagers into young women and men, aren't worth the money 
3) My father tells me high school was some of the best years of his life. I dont know where he went to school but I would like to request a transfer. At my school I've seen so many people have mental breakdowns I want to carry around a box of tissues and note cards that say “you are not a test score.”  At my school I'm supposed to finish my history test during a panic attack even though I'm crying too much to read the words. If these are the best four years of my life, I dread growing up.
4) One out of four kids in my school has depression. Four out of four don't understand what that means. In English, I analyzed the Scarlet Letter for pathos and dichotomous ideas, but I wasn’t given the words to describe the heavy sadness in my chest, the tears that claw their way up my throat. A month ago, my friend asked me why I couldn't think my way out of depression and was shocked when I explained it was just as physical a disease as diabetes or cancer. But he still stigmatizes me for taking medication to fix what he considers a flaw in character.
5) Long sleeves lie just as much as a mumbled “I'm okay.” But by junior year there's no reason for anyone to hide their scars because we all have them, inside or out. In high school, it's not peer pressure that pushes us towards drugs but the ACTs and SATs, common cores and common apps. The school board tells us not to smoke but encourages so many AP classes they might as well be handing us lighters. And if it's not drugs it's Netflix or a knife. And the same parents who tell us to aim for the perfect 36 turn off the internet. I am expected to live an unlivable life with no respite or escape.  I am expected to be open 24/7. 
6) And I know my title said 5 but this is important. We can't continue living like this. Something needs to change and our generation is responsible for changing it. So let's put less emphasis on grades and numbers and standardized tests and try to define ourselves by who we actually are. Let's remember that all colleges have successful alums and ivy doesn't equate successful career. Let's respect the teachers who raise us from age 4-18. But most importantly, right now, I want everyone who feels useless, like a bag of flaws and broken glass, to remember it’s always possible to put the pieces back together.  I can’t say from experience, but judging from the sheer number of adults in this world, it MUST get better after high school.  So if you’re dying as you live, if you feel like more flaw than figure, grab onto whatever scraps of strength you have left and plow forwards because there's a reason you made it this far. You are beautiful. You are strong. Each day is a lesson and you have learned so much.  And soon you'll be able to look back and quantify your pain into five things you learned in high school. And maybe one day you'll look at who you were and who you became and realize that perhaps it was worth it.