OK, I just spotted an error in my post, well too late to edit.
I wrote “If my daughters get a Master’s degree, then end up home with their kids and not “using” that degree, it will be fine with me, as long as they’re happy.”
It should have been “If one of my KIDS…”
I want all my kids to be happy, and to have the tools to follow their dreams.
Much good advice here, so I’ll focus on this: Being a ‘leader’ is about knowing yourself and what you have to offer and then doing it - not being voted secretary of a random club." This especially applies if you’ve identified an interest in art. You do want to experience some hs activities with peers, do some good in your community, but can customize it for your own wants, rather than collecting random clubs and roles. The idea of forming an art club is good, but many local groups that help teens might love a volunteer who came in to do art with them. You can start as a lowly volunteer, maybe develop some wider responsibilities and experiences. Good for them, good for your soul, good for your growth.
Lots of colleges have good, productive art programs. Some you may not realize, till you get started exploring. You can call one or two that are local, maybe set up some time to learn what their art expectations are from you. Starting your questions with a local safety is often a lower pressure way to ask and learn, in the beginning, get your bearings.
And yes, if you have art teachers in the hs, who are willing to talk, they may also have some good starter advice.
Best wishes.
Wow the amount of replies that i have received was truly unexpected and very comforting. Thank you all very much, i am so grateful
One more piece of advice (which may or may not apply): recognize that there are many “right” paths to any given destination. Remaining at your old school would have been one path to college. Your new school gives you a different path – potentially even to the same college. I used to torture myself at your age over whether I had made the right decision and I truly believed that there was only one correct decision to have made. I became conscious of this behavior when I was trying to decide between different job offers after college graduation. At the time, I felt a lot of pressure thinking that I had to make the single right choice for the next several decades of my life. Then I re-framed it to needing to make a choice that I could live with for the next 2-5 years.
I was a math-y student, so maybe that contributed to my believing there was only one right answer, and you’re an artsy person so maybe you already know this instinctively, but perhaps it will help a different reader one of these days.
Best of luck to you as you wander along your chosen path.