<p>High school is a difficult time for many incoming students. Making friends, getting good grades, and fitting in. I will be starting HS next year and I thought a thread like this could be beneficial. Since many of you have already started maybe you can give tips & advice, share stories, etc. </p>
<p>So, the real question is how does one get noticed in HS (for good things). I understand that popularity isn't everything but is there a way to be very well known almost to the point of (dare I say it?) popularity as a freshman? How would someone do something like this without being annoying or hated or seeming like a self-centered social climber?</p>
<p>You might want to look a bit deeper and think about what your ultimate goal might be:</p>
<ul>
<li>do you want to “get noticed” (focus is internal, with primary benefit to yourself)</li>
<li>do you want to “make a difference” (focus is external, with primary benefit to others)</li>
</ul>
<p>Here are a few books that offer good insights:
“How to Win Friends and Influence People,” by Dale Carnegie
“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens,” by Sean Covey</p>
<p>“High school is a difficult time for many incoming students. Making friends, getting good grades…”</p>
<p>You’ve answered your own question. For many incoming students, the transition to boarding school IS difficult. So why worry about “getting noticed”? Just worry about making friends, getting good grades, and adjusting to BS life.</p>
<p>That’s the advice I’d give my own children.</p>
<p>Be kind. Listen. Help others if you can, and be generous with your spirit. Avoid drama. </p>
<p>You will draw other kind, generous people to you, and together you will help and support each other and all get noticed as the mature leaders in your class.</p>
<p>Lots of good advice that I second!
The first thing to do is relax! Freshmen have a full time job just getting acclimated to their new environment. It takes time to learn how to negotiate classes, friends, roommates, traditions and rules, activities and sports, etc. Plan to give yourself first semester just to get your feet under you. That way you won’t pressure yourself too early to “make an impact.” You’re way more likely to make an impact when you’re happy and comfortable, so make it your first priority to just get comfortable in your new place. Plenty of freshmen at our school really only started to get noticed on a larger scale this spring. (This will all depend on the size of the school in question. Mine is in the 280-520 range.)</p>
<p>The freshmen who stand out early on are the ones who can contribute something unique to the community. Either it’s the kids who are in higher lever classes for maths or languages, the freshman who makes a Varsity team, or the one who volunteers to play an instrument/sing/give a talk in chapel. Basically, it’s the stuff that gets you known by upperclassmen before they’ve bothered to sort out the rest of your class. Too many freshmen think this is the only way to be known as a great freshman. Not so!</p>
<p>The good news is that you can also get noticed and attain “popularity” by being just plain nice to everyone you meet. There may be certain pressure to step quietly away from the uncool kids, or to just not deal with the people who have poorly developed social skills, but the standout freshmen have the confidence and the time to be generous to everyone in the class. They don’t get caught up in whatever ridiculousness is being churned up by the freshmen who want to be “popular” or “influential” just among the freshman class (it’s an important distinction, because those kids are playing by middle school rules and they’re playing only the short game. You want to play the long game.) Standout freshmen volunteer for whatever freshmen leadership opportunities exist on the community council, dorm council, whatever. They join activities and volunteer to do the jobs the upperclassmen don’t want to do–like clean up. They see upperclassmen as human beings and they feel comfortable just talking with them.</p>
<p>We just had a faculty meeting where we nominated and voted on freshmen to win our “outstanding freshman” award. Of the five nominees, all had good (but not perfect) grades, and all were incredibly nice and friendly kids who are liked by most of the students in the school as well as the teachers. All of them are extroverts. One girl is a star athlete, one is an international who plays a unique instrument, and the other three are just happy, hard-working kids who take advantage of everything the school has to offer. (and the eventual winner was one of these final three–not a super star in a particular area, but a kid whose happiness, curiosity, willingness and openness make him fun to be around.)</p>
<p>im finishing up freshman year, and i had an awesome year. pretty much kicked ass in every way possible. here’s my advice:</p>
<p>-be socially courageous. every time this year i have put myself out there socially, i’ve always been glad i did it. this is the most important advice you can get.
-be known for something. for me, i was known for an EC that i put a lot of time into. i made lots of friends through it, and became identified by it. this helps a lot with the transition.
-be chill. don’t get uptight over little things, and don’t let little things bother you. life is too short to be ****ed at small things. enjoy it.
-make time for a social life.
-don’t kill yourself if you make a social “mistake.” we all go to parties where we act awkward, or realize that we were acting stupid. don’t sweat it. everyone makes those mistakes.</p>
<p>good luck brah. freshman year can be awesome.</p>
<p>at my old school, they would announce this every day before the day started: “Be kind, be responsible, and be the best person you can be. The choice is yours.” And it’s really been somethign that I follow till today.</p>
<p>I’m also finishing up freshman year (only two weeks left!!) and did pretty well socially and academically. Some words of wisdom for you guys out there:</p>
<p>-Don’t worry about making friends. Start off in your hall in the dorm. If you don’t find anyone who is in your liking, then spread out to other parts of the dorm! In class, you’ll meet more people, and even in your ECs. Go to social events (dances, movies, etc), and have your friends introduce you to other people they know. The list keeps on going!</p>
<p>-be kind, be modest, etc. nobody likes an arrogant ******bag.
-as what J24601J said, don’t be uptight about anything really. just chill hardddd
-balance social life and academic life in a way that you can be successfull in both aspects.
-don’t be the guy who only cares about picking up chics…just no…
be active during class! people will ask for your help, and you won’t be known as the “dumb one” in school</p>
<p>That’s all I can think of right now lol! Freshman year…Enjoy it and love it. As what my community service head says, “Keep livin the dream”</p>
<p>There is a ton of good advice in posts 5, 6 and 7, especially the paragraph in post 6 that begins with “The good news…”. Print these posts out! Refer to them! </p>
<p>My only two cents is to have a ready smile. It says “I’m open for business, I’m happy, I’m approachable.” It can be nerve wracking freshman year as you adjust, but a smile, as simple as it seems, is a powerful message of friendship.</p>