I’m going to be going to high school in the fall. My parents didn’t have very… Let’s just say… Good memories of high school. They want me to be the opposite. I need advice. They have given me advice, but haven’t really collaborated on it… I need more and if anyone has graduated, since you are fresh out of “The greatest (and most matureing, mind you) 4 years of your life.”, what’s your advice for a wee freshman like me?
- Pay attention to your grades. At this point every single one counts. The better your grades are, the more selective colleges you can get into....and more selective colleges offer more financial aid. Better grades today=less debt later.
- Be open to friendships will all sorts of people. Don't limit yourself to one group.
- Go to dances, even if it's just with a friend group or even by yourself. A couple of hours of cardio was never easier:) And you never know....something interesting might happen.
- When you start thinking about your future, think about what you really enjoy doing that you have some talent for. Don't let your parents talk you into their dreams, or force you to pursue something for the money.
- Now i'm going to be insanely contrary....and say....when you start thinking of the kind of career you want...check the want ads first. Make sure the JOBS exist in the field you want to go into.
- Invest in and protect important friendships. My bestie today....is someone I met the first day of first grade. She's closer than a sister, and I value our relationship more than I can say.
- Try a couple of extra curriculars that are new experiences. Build bat houses for conservation, take a part in a school play...network and get to know lots of different kinds of people.
Focus on your studies, don’t be afraid to get involved, and stay away from typical high school drama.If you do these 3 things, you’ll find plenty of good friends and have a good high school career.
If you don’t understand the material go and seek for help after school. I regret not doing this as a high school student. Instead I hanged out with my friends.
I’m a rising senior.
1 piece of advice: don't procrastinate. You're going to promise yourself that you won't, and probably end up doing it anyway.
DON’T DO IT! Pay attention to when you could be doing work but you’re not. “Just 5 more minutes” usually ends up being a couple hours if you’re talking to friends or something. Even having Facebook in one tab and Google Docs in another wastes time because it takes a while to refocus.
If you use your time efficiently, you can save yourself a lot of sleep (and subsequently, sanity).
Some more…
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Dating… a relationship takes a lot of time and effort, and school usually drains both from a person. Going out with friends on weekends is fun, but you should be aware of the responsibility that comes with romantic relationships. Breakups hurt both your heart and your grades, if you can’t handle it.
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Form relationships with your teachers. Break the ice and talk to them in the beginning of the year about fun stuff you did on the weekend, before it gets super awkward. It’s a lot easier to ask questions once you get to know somebody, and teachers usually won’t go out of their way to consult you individually in high school (at least not in mine).
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Don’t get too hung up on social status. Hold your head up high (with humility, of course). Sometimes kids can be pretty mean and judgemental- usually because they’re insecure about themselves. Do your best to improve yourself because you want to be healthy and happy. 20 years from now, the people who judged you might be working for the ones they judged
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On that topic, nerds rule the world. Explore your interests and build up some cool skills and hobbies! You never know when they might come in handy.
All in all, the days drag on, but the years pass by pretty quickly. Brace yourself and have fun! Invest time into learning new things and enjoying yourself, and you’ll be good to go. Good luck!
I don’t necessarily buy into the “best years of your life” line. How very sad to think that at age 18, it’s all down hill; the best years are over.
Know that there will be some far from “best” times, and that they’ll pass.
Be careful to avoid the “mean girl” attitude. Once you find a group of friends, it can be so easy to leave out the less fortunate kids who are still struggling to find friends. The kids I admire most in my high school are the kids who greet everyone with a smile and a hello, regardless of who that person is.
While grades are certainly important, life - and high school- is about so much more than grades! Sure, use this opportunity to learn all you can. But know that grades are just numbers, and that you are so much more than those numbers.
Do not be afraid to be yourself, or to do things by yourself. The moment you begin to like spending time alone, you are safe from a whole lot of troubles.
Also, have a friend or two you can always spend time with or grab lunch with. Be nice to everyone and popularity is relative. Do things that you will be proud of doing in the future. Have fun and keep your grades up.
2 things to add to the fabulous advice you’ve already been given:
- don’t procrastinate
- SLEEEEEEEEEP!!! Value your sleep!
This is a chance where you get to take a variety of courses and try new things.
So take those challenging courses but take a fun/interesting one too.
Try different activities! Never will it be so easy to join clubs/bands/drama/sports.
GET INVOLVED GET INVOLVED GET INVOLVED! I’m a rising junior and I really haven’t thought about any major friend drama or felt out of place in the past two years. And it’s not because i’m some sort of social butterfly, that’s for sure. It’s because I found something I loved and threw myself into it (band for me). Think about it, if you’re in a club doing something you like, the other people in that club must also like the thing! Boom, instant talking point, and gateway to friendship. And, people who are involved in clubs and activities tend to be more driven and generally better people than those who don’t. Music, Drama, and Sports all tend to be pretty tight knit groups, which IMO, is what you want. Try to get involved, but even if you don’t, just stay open and friendly and you’ll still make some friends. Most people in high school will probably end up with friends that you don’t know where they came from. You’ll be in a class together, maybe work on a group project, and next thing you know you guys are really close. It’s crazy.
tldr: Get involved and take advanced classes, they’ll probably keep you away from the parts of the student body that you don’t want to be associated with. Girl in my grade that smokes crack who? Don’t know her. Why? Staying involved and taking advanced classes.
Check out the class of 2021 thread http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/high-school-life/1915214-high-school-class-of-2021.html#latest
Do you homework on the bus if you have a super long bus-ride. I will be going to a magnet high school that’s a 35 minutes (with traffic, merging from i64 to i95 is 10 minutes by itself) drive from my house, and it’ll probably take even longer considering the fact that I’ll be on a bus that’s also picking up other students.
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Try really hard the first month of school- study so that you ace every test, act super nice to your teachers, and do really well in the class (basically, just be a perfect student). That way, you have a buffer, and your teachers will have a good first impression of you. After that, don’t slack off or act rude to your teachers, but you don’t have to worry quite as much. As long as you still do well and are fairly nice, first impressions last a long time.
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I agree with post 9- find a super-involved activity (a sport, cheer, band, theater, dance, choir) and join it. This way, you will be forced to know people even if you aren’t the most outgoing/social person (no idea if you are, but even if you are super extroverted with a ton of friends, join a major activity anyways). In addition to this one major, time-commitment-requiring activity, join a few other smaller clubs and activities to get a feel for what you’re interested in. If whatever you’re interested in doesn’t have a club, then make one! (Form it sophomore year; see what clubs there are before forming a new one.)
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If there’s extra credit offered, just do it. Seriously. Even if you’re fine in the class when the extra credit shows up, you never know if in two weeks you’ll turn in a project late or do badly on a test. Just do the extra credit then so that you have a buffer when you actually need it. At the very least it will save you some stress later.
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Also, challenge yourself. It’ll look good for colleges and be less boring for you. Challenging can be different for different people, but try to take the hardest class that you can manage. @Qipsoma is right, the weird kids tend to not be in advanced classes.
