High school transcripts carry the most relevance for those who move straight from high school to college. For some others, such as veterans who have had a hiatus from academic environments, HS transcripts are held in less regard. Just how much your transcripts would be scrutinized could depend on the admissions policies of the college.
If admissions is competitive and exclusive it would matter more. At a large public university it would matter less. Above all else, it is important just how much poor attendance affected your grades, since that is the bottom line.
Should you not get an admittance to a college of your choice then you may have fallback options. In my many years of teaching community college classes I saw a lot of people who, by their own admission, were not academic types before. By the time I saw them they were working full or part time and trying to make up for lost territory.
For less money they took the same classes, with transferable credits to all public and some ... more.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.