Because you’re playing the long game, and there’s a whole lifetime after HS and college. I’d like you to do a mental activity for me.
Close your eyes and imagine 2 years from now:
You’re enrolled at your in-state flagship and sitting in a really cool honors seminar class about your favorite topic. Look around, do you see any of those unproductive high school kids there? No.
Imagine 3 1/2 years from now and you just started a really good internship/research position.
Look around, do you see any of those high school kids there? Probably not.
Imagine 5 1/2 years from now and you’ve just been offered a permanent position after college as a result of that internship, and you’re graduating with honors.
Look around, do you see any of those “get by” high school kids there with stoles? Not likely.
The point is college is not the end game for high school; it’s another step along the journey. Living a happy and fulfilled life (and hopefully successful as defined by YOU) after college is the long game; just because 2 students go to the same school doesn’t mean they’ll have the same jouney. Will you utilize the opportunities available to you while you’re there? It sounds like you’re the type of student who will. Will those other kids from your high school do the same? Likely not. What you do with your time over those 4 years is entirely up to you.
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