# Why is so much importance placed on one's high school experiences?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-so-much-importance-placed-on-ones-high-school-experiences/486957>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [February 22, 2009, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-so-much-importance-placed-on-ones-high-school-experiences/486957 "2009-02-22T16:52:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-so-much-importance-placed-on-ones-high-school-experiences/486957/41 "2009-02-25T03:27:37Z")

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> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#):
>
> I’d say there’s also a lot of nostalgia about that time frame because it was a time when you are just starting to get some serious independence. You don’t have to ask mommy or daddy to drive you to the mall, you just get in the car and drive yourself without and the only permission you need is to use the car.
> 
> At the same time you never had to really worry about all the responsibilities of adulthood. No worries about paying rent and your parents still bought you the groceries etc.
> 
> And it was a period of huge optimism about the future. I can guarantee everyone I went to school with had grand ideas about where they would be right now. A lot of my friends were planning to become doctors and lawyers and one guy was aiming for a master’s degree in fine arts to be a film director.
> 
> Nowadays the Actor has become a teacher. The Artist has become a veterinarian. The super-brain who everyone had pegged as the Doctor got a summer job as a roofer just kept doing it, dropping out of university.
> 
> But back in highschool we were going to be kings! Nothing as ordinary as working behind a desk, for a non-profit organization, no! We were going to save/rule the world as rock stars and millionaires! Meanwhile, at the time we could reap both the rewards of being wards of our parents while still being quasi-independent. It was a great formative and optimistic time.
> 
> Some people really want to recapture the feeling from back in the day.

That about sums it up.

Brief, but meaningful conversation, I’ve just had:

Me (wearing my hospital vounteer uniform): I still haven’t started my marketing career.  
Her (wearing diner outfit): **We’re** still young.

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**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-so-much-importance-placed-on-ones-high-school-experiences/486957/42 "2009-02-25T13:47:12Z")

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The reason people have strong associations is you were forced to go for all those years and couldn’t get out of the situation by yourself.

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