Journey through Highschool – Somewhere in Between

We interviewed a high school student about what life has been like ever since the COVID-19 epidemic. We were interested in knowing how students cope with everything that’s happening and whether or not it has an effect on their academics or interpersonal relationships. Here’s what she had to say:

Phearyta Chim,

It hasn’t been so long since our first quarantine break has passed. During the long break, many things crossed my mind actually, I thought of my life, an incomplete messy journey of a highschool girl who was a bit torn between her social life, her Oppa, her love life, her precious sleep, and her education. This journey started when she was finally at her last year of school, for the Khmer curriculum at least, at her last year being called a highschooler. This year was an oncoming tragedy that she had no idea would even happen. I mean it wasn’t that bad in the beginning as she managed to hold everything up with her two shoulders and carry the burden with no slacking but then this is where the phrase “The beginning is easy, continuing is hard.” suddenly had a whole new meaning. Yup, that’s literally what this is all about.

September is probably the best month in 2019. It was a time where the school has just started, it was a time where excitement stirs up in my mind knowing that I will return back to school with my annoying friends and my dense crush, it was a time where my brain was still fresh and ready to take all the challenges and make changes, and it was surely a time where I have it all in my hand, where my dream wasn’t just imagination. But not long after this, the perfect image starts fading. It wasn’t half-past October when life started stooping down slowly as assignments started to pile up and the clock started ticking. That was when I knew I was torn between my perfect schedule; I had to pick between spending time for entertainment or for sleep. There were also other problems. My so-called unamazing love life also started to fall apart too. I was lost in our relationship. I didn’t know what kind of relationship we had, and how I was supposed to treat him or care about him. Despite all of these problems, my problem with love was the most prominent.

Love, this topic is ambiguous, I mean who knows what love is? If you actually go around and ask people, you might end up with this cringy answer saying ‘Love is sacrificing’ or this typical answer of ‘Love is when you care’ but what is it exactly? None of us know, and that’s probably why I never have an answer to what’s between me and him. We were friends but then we were also more than that. Is it what the Koreans call a “some relationship” where you two are still in this flirtationship? I don’t know, because somewhere within those two status we started to drift apart and pursue our own thing, focusing on the different priorities of ours.

Well, I guess that’s where everything started to fall apart. It was like a warning alarm that alerted me that things were going to change, and maybe not for the best. It was the start of how my love life fell from the sky crashing under the earth. It was sad but I didn’t have time to grieve over it, I couldn’t stay stuck there and sulk over it because life goes on.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, the moral of this journal from this highschool girl is to motivate those who fail in love life, those who are in a confused state between love and relationship to understand that if it’ll work out, it will. But if it didn’t then it’s not meant to be so don’t sulk over it and roll on with life because there’s more to life than just this certain guy/girl you’re crushing over. Moreover, never allow yourself to be torn in between all those random goals you’re planning to have it all in hand without putting a priority to any of those goals. Set your goals properly so you know what you prioritize most. Your life may be messy right now but you can start picking the pieces that fell apart and put everything back together. Remember this famous quote by Gabriela Acosta that says, “The pain you feel today is the strength you feel tomorrow. For every challenge encountered there is an opportunity for growth.”