Friday, October 15, 2010

Recurring Dream: Back in High School

I have this recurring dream every once in awhile: suddenly being back at school, whether it be high school or college, unable to find my locker or classes, not prepared for homework or an exam.

This is the details of last night's dream:

I am in back in high school. Apparently I have to re-do my senior year for some reason and I am fully aware of that.  I am my current age, not 17 or 18.  I have to go to class, but I don't know what my schedule is, so I don't know what class I have to go to.  Then I remember that we had a rotating schedule, so I try to figure out what day it is and what schedule I have.  I become anxious because I did not do my English homework.  Then I look in my backpack and realize I do not have the right books in there.  But, I don't know where my locker is to get the right books.  I walk through the hallways to find my class and locker.  I turn the corner and am at the beginning of a very long, steep hallway.  I start to walk up the hallway, but then stop and turn around and say that I don't recognize the hallway and don't know where it leads to.  I see my old high school friend walk by and I say "Hi!"  (I guess it doesn't register that someone else my age is in high school as well.)  Then, I am outside, but it looks different than it used to.  We used to have Gym outside.  But, I'm not in gym clothes.  I am hanging out with people I don't know.  I call my sister (who is a Freshman in college) and tell her that I'm in high school and she's in college.

What does this mean?

Dream Moods says:

School
To dream that you are in school, signifies feelings of inadequacy and childhood insecurities that have never been resolved. It may relate to anxieties about your performance and abilities. Alternatively, a dream that takes place in school may be a metaphor for the lessons that you are learning from your waking life. You may be going through a "spiritual learning" experience. 


High School
To dream that you have to repeat high school, suggests that you are doubting your accomplishments and the goals that you have already completed. You feel that you may not be measuring up to the expectation of others. The dream may occur because some recent situation may have awakened old anxieties and insecurities. 


Locker
In particular, to dream of a school locker, denotes hidden feelings, knowledge, and attitudes that you need to learn and/or acknowledge. If you cannot find your locker, then it symbolizes your insecurities about your role or position in a situation.


Class
To dream that you forget to attend a class you signed up for, indicates your anxieties and fear of failing. You may also be lacking self-confidence in your ability to handle new responsibilities or projects. 


Schedule
To see a schedule in your dream, suggests that you need better planning and organization in your life. Lay out your agenda, your goals and what you want to accomplish. 


Hallway
To see a hallway in your dream, symbolizes self exploration. It is the beginning of the path that you are taking in life. You are going through a transitional phase and journeying into the unknown. It also signals spiritual enlightenment, emotional growth physical prowess, new opportunities and mental passages in your life











19 comments:

Unknown said...

That s crazy, I have basically the same reoccurring dream! That I'm back in high school, I'm the same age I am now, I can't find my locker or class, I dont have the books i need, I finally find my locker but I don't know the combination, I find my class but I don't have my work to turn in! So weird, I thought I was the only one!

Theresa A said...

Glad to know that there are other people like me!

Anonymous said...

i have the same dream!!! and its reoccuring why?

fizk said...

That's amazing, I have the same reoccurring dream! It's always so vivid. I'm also the same age as I am today.

The main thing I can count on being the same every time I have this dream is the fact that I need to redo my last year, and I BETTER get it right this time.

Sometimes I meet classmates in the same situation - they never look any older - but some of them have been repeating their last year for a few years already. Lately I don't meet anyone.

I'm always excited, and even happy, to be back in high school, but under extreme pressure not to screw up this time around - it's my BIG problem. Most of my conscious thought revolves around that fact alone. As the original poster mentioned, I'm fully aware of this throughout the dream.

Often, as soon as I realize I need to figure out my class schedule, I get trapped in a puzzle. I feel the clock ticking...I MUST find my class right now. Here I get thrown into tunnel vision. If I decide to go classroom by classroom, the school becomes infinity large. If I decide to guess my schedule, I'm impossibly lost as to where each subject's classroom actually is.

One thing I didn't see mentioned here so far is that I usually undergo a guilt trip into believing that I indeed need to redo my last year. It's because of my own admission that I pressure myself into making this succeed. Because I've had this dream many times, sometimes I'm aware of this critical moment at the start of the dream, and I sometimes choose that I don't need to repeat my last year. Even so, I find myself in my high school building, free to wonder the halls.

Sometimes the hallways can be scary - dark, long, and winding - especially when I'm running around trying to find my classroom unsuccessfully.

Spiritchild said...

It's interesting to find so many people are having this similar dream. I have had this same dream on and off for 27 years! I am now 48 yrs old. At the beginning of every dream, I know that I have graduated high school and I am to go on to college, but instead of going to college, I go back to my high school. I am aware straight on that the fear of being found out that I am my current age, back in high school is overwhelming. I'm always afraid someone will see my records and see that I have already graduated, but I am still attending school. No one except me seems to notice I am my current age. Usually, the first thing I realize is I don't know my schedule and I am always having to go 'find' the office to get a copy of it. I seem to search for a long time for the office and finally get a copy of my schedule. I seem to know exactly where my locker is, and instead of not knowing my combination, I know if I turn it right, left, right, it will open right up. Sometimes, though, when I open it, it doesn't have my things in it, someone else has taken over that locker. I go to my classes, but it seems that I have to search up and down the hallways and usually have trouble finding the classrooms. There are usually multiple buildings and multiple hallways. I run up and down each one searching for my classroom. Once I do find it, some of them, especially math, I end up skipping, but somehow manage to pass the class. Others, I have the knowledge that even if I don't turn in my homework, it doesn't matter, I will still pass the class. Typically during the times, I actually get to the end of the dream, I graduate, photos are taken and I am handed my diploma, then it continues over again. Instead of moving on to college, I go back to my high school, again. So after high school I end up going back for my 'college' freshman, sophmore, junior and senior years, so all in all, I am in high school 4 more years after I graduate. It never seems to move on past that. With the fear at the beginning of each new year that I will be found out. I contacted a dream interpretation expert named Leon Nacson. He told me that what my dream represents in my current life, is that in actuality, my dream is telling me that I didn't need college to be able do the jobs I've had. I was given the hands on knowledge I have needed to advance in my career. In my real life, I never went to college, but every job I have had has prepared me for the job I have today, and because of the technical things I need in my current job, I didn't have to go to college, but learned along the way. I was told that the searching for the classrooms is the searching for knowledge I was needing for my life and my job because I was feeling inadequate. The locker and the fears of being found out represented my fears that I had locked up of being judged for not going to college. I have had this dream as again as recent as this past year. Typically not much changes in each dream, it is mostly the same scenerio every time. Hope this might help someone else that has had the same dream.

Unknown said...

It's just wild to read what you all have said and feel like they're my own words. I also have this recurring dream of going back to high school at my current age and being lost in some way. Every one has some setback; didn't do my homework, can't remember my class schedule, can't find my class, didn't finish the test on time (last night's dream), can't find my locker, campus changes.

They are very vivid dreams with great detail and leave me wondering all day what the heck they mean. Such as today. So I finally did a search hoping to find an answer and here I find out that this is quite common!

Might it be that we all have a certain conditioning at that age leading up to the expectation of graduating, our first adult accomplishment? I would be willing to participate in tests if it gets me answers.

Well folks, maybe I'll see you at school in my dreams! :)

Unknown said...

I too, have these recurring dreams of being back in school. I find they have gotten more frequent over the past few months and are my most vivid dreams. Mine specifically are of being back in highschool - which I only graduated a few years ago. I was a very shy person and found that most of my fears and insecurities have been in these dreams. For example my last one I was returning back from a school break to only arrive late and forget my locker combination. All my books were not arranged and were messy. I found it hard to read my time table and match the books to the classes. Also I was the only one to of forgetter my sports uniform for sports class (I used to change uniforms a lot in school) So, anyway it's good that many others like me are in the same boat, and that some of my questions have been answered above to what my dreams are really about.

Taryn said...

I have a similar recurring dream about being forced to go back to high school because I failed maths. (I have my MA in Philosophy now). It all makes sense now. It normally happens when I am doubting myself careerwise

Brandi H. said...

If you've been reading this blog, by now you know you're not the only one. It's crazy right? My Dream: I'm back in Oak Ridge High School. I feel as I'm my current age. The bell must have rang as I don't see students roaming in the halls. Then I try to figure out where I'm supposed to be. I try to recall my schedule for when I attended 6 years ago, but it's really difficult. As I approach the classes that I believe are it, I doubt myself "Is this class on M, W, F or T, Th?" I start freaking out, so I start looking for the office to get a copy of my schedule. (I know it's a pain for the office to do this). Well, in my most recent dream... I found a teacher in an open computer down the hall I was headed (I don't recall such an area like this in school) I asked him if he could print my schedule, he said sure. Once he provided the schedule, (he must have thought I was new or something) he went on to show me how the lockers worked, which by the way was really confusing as he explained they were recycled throughout the day by other students. He must have seen I was confused, as he got frustrated and said he was calling it a day. In any case, throughout my dream I always have one thing in mind... "I need to do it better this time!" Meaning, better grades.. I need to make my teachers proud, my parents proud, but most importantly myself proud! -BH, Class of '09 due to early graduation.

Unknown said...

I have the same dream except im in middle school taking college classes and im failing each one...its always the same scenario...im 30.....

TJ Trusty said...

I've been having the same type of dream for years. I just had it again last night and decided to google it and found this page. It's really weird to see that others not only have a related type of dream but so similar on so many details. In mine, my entire senior class has to repeat senior year because of some mistake made by the school administrators. We've all already graduated and have even had our ceremony just like in real life, except at some point we're all contacted and told we have to return. Here's the weird thing for me. In my dream last night, after what seemed like maybe half a day of going through all the crazy, confusing stuff that most of you described, I decided to say, "Screw it. I'm not doing this". I'm pretty sure that's the first time I've ever stood up to it and had the attitude like, "Hey, I already graduated and you can't take that away from me"! Like you guys, I'm always my current age, as are my classmates. I'm 42 and graduated in 1991. Wow.

Kim said...

Hahaha! I couldn't help but smile while reading the similar stories on this page and one other. When I first looked up school dream meanings I didn't find what I wanted, a bit more detailed search and I got all these familiar stories :)

I was already having nervous school dreams in my senior year of HS, I was taking night school too and knew I would graduate late. I was very ill and felt a lot of frustration over the things I kept to myself about my life, making it even harder for me to "get anywhere". My most common theme of this dream type is that I don't know my schedule (or I have it but unsure/can't read it/find the classes) so where do I go? I have to hurry! And I'm filled with such anxiety, I'm too scared to go into the office ...which is a feat to even find, even though sometimes I have apparent friends (often from elementary/middle school I haven't seen in years! I'm 31 now) working in there. I'm scared of talking to people, for real, and it can happen in dreams too. My dreams are made up of just several motionless images, very blurry and cut off ones, so what I discern from them is mostly feelings. The feeling that I'm in high school but I shouldn't be still and the sheer embarrassment were always very strong and upsetting.

Nowadays I'm MUCH less worried about being held up to others' standards and feel far more fond and proud of myself, so it's been a long time, but then I was hit with a "where is my locker how do I find out where that is!?" dream! This time I walked right up to a "friend" working at the office, in the hallway! But she was interrupted by a teacher, so I was still too scared to talk with her, and I just kept walking on, and seeing her (teleported) again, unable to ask. This time I felt curious about why I was in HS rather than embarrassed, though. Improvement! One time in HS, I actually hadn't used my locker in so long, that I legitimately forgot where it was and didn't want to ask at the office, and then couldn't remember if I cleaned it out at the end of the year... It was like the real life version of some of these dreams. Scary! ;)

syd said...

I haven't been able to find the situation that I'm in. I just got out of middle school and I keep having dreams about the first day of high school. They all have the same concept: getting off of the bus at the middle school to ride a different one to the high school (which is what all highschoolers that ride the bus actually have to do) and in the dream I'm always thinking what my classes are (I just got them in the mail in real life) and how to get there or, one of them was with my choir teacher. She was the bus driver and we put a song on called Gone Gone Gone by Phillip Phillips. Everyone knew it at the beginning but in the middle I was the only one who knew it and I was the only one singing.

Those types of dreams have been going on for five days straight. help it's stressing me out :(

Unknown said...

That's so crazy to see all these posts about this dream! I also continue to have it and it's been going on for years. Just as someone posted on here that the entire class had to redo senior year because of faculty error. But it's a nightmare for me, because to think all those years and having to redo it knowing I won't actually have a diploma if I don't redo it is so upsetting.

Unknown said...

I had a recently reoccuring high school dream again last night. I get to school and I feel like ive already missed the first couple of weeks. I remember they gave me a written schedule with room numbers and classes, but I can't find it. Once I do find it, I can't find the room
Numbers for some classes. And when I do find them, I have absolutely no idea where the rooms are. I keep asking around to friends and teachers , but no one wants to help me. I could just go down to the main office for help but I feel like I'm tired of doing that. ( I believe that Is my dream interpretation of my parents helping navigate me through my current situation, but I'm growing up and know I need to do this on my own.) I am 32 and going through A LOT of things in life right now. My main one though, is the possibility of buying our house. We currently rent and the opportunity to buy it has come up recently. Unfortunately, my boyfriend will be the one in control as far as the loan. So basically I'm the planner, but just have to sit, wait and listen about if we are staying or going.

Shanna Teriaste said...

I have this same dream too.. Even to the point of getting my diploma again.

This last dream i had was in elementary school.. 3rd grade to be exact

Unknown said...

I keep dreaming I am back in college. I don't have my schedule so I don't know what classes I need to go to, or when. I frantically try to get to the registrar's office to get a copy of the schedule.
I don't understand because I was very organized in real life and always was prepared for class.
Sometimes I remember I already graduated and don't HAVE to be here, but most times not. This is so tiring. I tell myself, "you already graduated, you don't have to have this dream anymore".

Unknown said...

Seeing that a lots of people are battling with the same high school dream has calmed my emotions down. I've been experiencing this dream for long, this mostly render me incapacitated due to different meanings of social medias. Know that I've known that it costs across every race, I've nothing to worry about

Charles Pettibone said...

Just wanted to add that I have the same dream. I was particularly struck by the detail that we are at our *present* ages- something which apparently is widely shared in this dream type. There is always some contrived narrative device why I'm back there.

One of the things in these dreams that jars me (in the narrative world of the dream) is the profound disjunction between going through all my old classes and routines without any of my old high school friends and acquaintances. Everyone in my class is high school age, and I'm of course much older than that in the dream. I had a good experience in HS, so in the dream I often feel some excitement at getting to have some nostalgic experiences, only to be bitterly disappointed by the hollowness of the experience without any of the people who made it what it was to me.