denouement

what high school taught me
was that you can never start a sentence with "and" or "but"
i also learned that it's better to be known as a bitch
than to be known as a girl that you can walk all over

what high school taught me
was that you must memorize the quadratic equation at all costs
it also taught me that sometimes it's your friends that can say the most hurtful things
and while it may be easy to forgive
it's a hell of a lot harder to forget

what high school taught me
was that andrew jackson was the fifteenth president
i also learned that college tuition is the number one murderer of dreams around the country
and that it's okay to fail sometimes

what high school taught me
was that water is a polar molecule
it also taught me that one day
an old song will come on the radio
and it will remind you that even though you weren't okay then
you're okay now
and it was all worth it.

i never dissected a frog
or truly memorized the unit circle
or learned how to be as social and peppy as my friends
i never mastered ceramics
or wrote the best poetry
and i didn't end up going to the college i wanted to

but i did learn that sometimes the strangest people are the best people
and to be okay with myself
even when others may not be.
i learned to stop wasting my time with friends that didn't act like friends
to spend time with my family
because sometimes they were all i had
i learned how to stop being so hard on myself
to accept defeat
to stand up
when all i wanted to do was sit down

and as for paris?
paris taught me
that i want to write for the rest of my life.
it taught me bravery
it taught me courage
and most of all
it taught me that we all have something in common
that no matter what social circle we come from
whether you're a athlete or cheerleader or rapper or singer or musician
we are all the same.
and for that,
i am forever grateful.

this is the the denouement.
but believe me,
 i'll remember what i've learned here for the rest of my life.

i love you guys.

thanks for living in paris with me.