Facial hair, failure and Fortnite

Since my first day of high school, we’ve had two presidents, four sequels to the Call of Duty franchise and six iterations of the iPhone, but I still can’t grow any amount of facial hair.

Four years, that’s all high school is. In the grand scheme of things, it is such a short and insignificant part of our lives. So much has happened outside the walls of Glenbrook North that it’s hard to place any importance on the relatively meaningless problems I’ve faced throughout my life.

As difficult as it may be to believe, the failures that occur during high school have little influence on our futures. Whether it’s a failed test, a social miscue or a botched Fortnite game, the failures that keep you up at night really don’t matter, because in the end everything works out, even if life doesn’t go according to plan.

I’ve realized that most problems I face on a daily basis are minor in the grand scheme of life. Being able to contextualize my problems has allowed me to take a much more relaxed approach to many aspects of high school. Instead of freaking out when I cut my face while shaving before homecoming, I took this misstep in stride and absolutely slayed pictures along with the rest of the night.

A person’s problems don’t define them. What defines them is their ability to remain optimistic when confronted with adversity. In fact, my clean-shaven nature may not be the worst. After all, the money I have saved from not needing beard oil and aftershave has allowed me to purchase some awesome Fortnite skins and emotes.