How can a first love affect you in such a young stage of your life?
High school is a big step in a person’s life, with them going from small teenagers to adults getting ready for the world. During this time they experience a lot of new things: college applications, classes, friends. They even get to learn about first love, a new thing to high schoolers and what even some hope to experience through their high school time.
Naima Tovar ‘27 said, “I think I was definitely blinded by love and a little bit more immature and I think I definitely matured after my first love and it made me grow to be a better person.”
With the whirlwind that high school already is, the addition of romance can create a swirl of both emotions of excitement and overwhelmingness. The impact of a first love in high school is often just viewed as late night calls and holding hands in the hallways, but under all of that it has a physiological effect on the young individual. Experiencing this at a young age can play a big role in your sense of identity, confidence, and emotional awareness.
Ella Hughes ‘27 said, “I acted not in a way I would have acted if I was thinking on my own. And I thought about it whatever way they wanted me to.”
For some, first love feels like a rush of pure happiness, with experiencing the first time of looking at someone and knowing they feel the exact same about you. Some people do benefit from this, being more creative, inspired and it can even be a motivation for people. This can also help with getting out of your shell and becoming vulnerable with another individual to another level. On the other hand, it can also hurt a person, people can become more introverted, closed off, and even centering there entire world around one person, people can even lose sight of who they are if not with that one person constantly, creating co-depressive issues.
Tovar said, “I think it’s given me a lot of good advice I could say, it has helped me push through and make good choices and learn from my mistakes.
What makes a first love so powerful is the romantic aspect, this is a first time for both knowing the feeling of love when not given from a family or friend view. It’s a new discovery, it shows what you value in people, what you want from that relationship or future ones, it can show you how to balance your life with the romantic part and the other things you have going on in life. These lessons stay with a person for a very long time or even their entire life after the duration of high school is over.
Hughes said, “Maybe to not get so lost in it. And to always do what your heart wants to do and not follow what the other person wants you to do.”
In the end, whether your first love becomes your last or not, the impact is always there. It’s a forever captured memory of lessons and sometimes a gilding force later in life. High school is where most people experience this for the first time, they get to share the thrill, change and love from another individual. And while it can be messy it can also be one of the formative parts of growing up.
