The Official "What *Have* You Learned In High School" Thread

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>And no, not just stuff about the Magna Carta or Spanish conjugations - but words of wisdom gained from the serendipities and misfortunes that embodies the high school experience.
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I myself learned that if you have an incompetent teacher, you should spend the class reading the textbook and/or teaching yourself the material instead of complaining. </p>

<p>I learned that Homecoming speeches are meant to be cheesy so that a truly good speech would be more memorable.</p>

<p>I learned that you should never anger the lunch ladies if you don't want to bring a bag lunch for the rest of the year.</p>

<p>I learned that there are really brilliant people in our education system who could be far richer and more powerful if they wished to succumb to those goals, but, fortunately for us students, haven't. </p>

<p>And finally, I learned that if you accidentally set your hair on fire in a chemistry lab, you shouldn't run down the hall screaming like an idiot - having a crowd of laughing teachers and students doesn't help matters. </p>

<p>Just kidding about the last one, but the others stand true. </p>

<p>What are the lessons you would take away from <em>your</em> four years?</p>

2

<p>mine are a little less "awww" than yours, and more world-weary, but...</p>

<p>Don't trust anyone who thinks they are in competition with you. </p>

<p>Look at some one's motivations before blithely accepting "advice".</p>

<p>Don't listen to authority figures blindly. They may be fundamentally wrong, even about their "expertise".</p>

<p>You control your future, not a teacher, not another student.</p>

<p>Cheaters and kiss ups may "win" in GPA, but they lose on standardized tests.</p>

<p>Always have a backup plan, even if your Plan A is "perfect".</p>

<p>Not everyone is "nice".</p>

3

<p>I...</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Second that <<<if you="" have="" an="" incompetent="" teacher,="" should="" spend="" the="" class="" reading="" textbook="" and="" or="" teaching="" yourself="" material="" instead="" of="" complaining.="">>></if></p></li>
<li><p>You can do well in anything if you really do try and make a super human effort.</p></li>
<li><p>Politics are a beautiful thing. </p></li>
<li><p>Science is a beautiful thing. </p></li>
<li><p>Heck, learning is a beautiful thing. </p></li>
<li><p>That High School is fun. </p></li>
<li><p>That all people, regardless of any factor, is truly beautiful. </p></li>
<li><p>That EVERYONE has alot of potential and unfortunately, alot don't use it. </p></li>
<li><p>That, for some reason, I always get any guy I want and that- contrary to popular belief- is not always a good thing. Really isn't a good thing. </p></li>
<li><p>That being Valedictorian is just a title and that enjoying the your only four years in high school is worth much more. </p></li>
<li><p>That life is beautiful.</p></li>
</ul>

4

<p>-People are fascinating.</p>

<p>-Don't blame others for your shortcomings.</p>

<p>-People are complicated, sometimes they have motives and feelings that are not visible to you. </p>

<p>-Making excuses is only a form of cheating yourself. </p>

<p>"I don't believe that people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive."-Joseph Campbell</p>

<p>-^^</p>

5

<p>Some (semi-obvious) things I learned:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Don't believe your teacher when he says you know how to do calculus. Decide for yourself. Just because you get an A in a course doesn't mean you know anything about the subject. Only you know what you know and what you don't know.</p></li>
<li><p>Each person has something interesting to contribute. You just have to ask them.</p></li>
<li><p>62-year-old homeless guys can be very articulate when presented with a computer and a newsreader. (Doesn't mean they have a sensible argument, though.)</p></li>
<li><p>Sounding smart is not always a good thing. In fact, sounding smart is rarely ever a good thing, unless you know exactly why you're doing it.</p></li>
<li><p>How much people like you doesn't depend so much on who you are as a person as how you interact with them. If you're their friend and care about them, people will like you even if you are a Communist who doesn't shower. (Just be sure to get to know them before telling them that, otherwise they might not bother to be friends with you.)</p></li>
</ul>

<p>I might post more if I think of any.</p>

6

<p>I learned that I'm not smart unless I put some effort into what I do.</p>

<p>I learned that I become a horribly depressed person under stress.</p>

<p>I learned that I can always restart and become someone new.</p>

<p>I learned that I'm a pretty cool person.</p>

<p>I learned that nobody really cares about what you do unless you care.</p>

7

<p>I learned having a social life is hard.</p>

8

<p>School Rules 1-3</p>

<p>1) Trust no one.
2) "A" stands for "Acceptable."
3) Sleep is optional.</p>

9

<p>"If you have an incompetent teacher, you should spend the class reading the textbook and/or teaching yourself the material instead of complaining."</p>

<p>^Agreed x10</p>

<p>-All teachers really aren't that smart, don't overestimate them, yet don't be a jerk about it either.</p>

<p>-There is more to being in high school than school.</p>

<p>-Friends are optional. Believe it or not, you can survive without them.</p>

<p>-Sacrifices are necessary. Most of the time people don't care that you stayed up until 4am working on a project.</p>

<p>-A's don't always equal success; grades aren't everything. Rankings are annoying. So are standardized test scores...all of them!</p>

<p>-School activities (pep rallies, class spirit/pride, trips, dances) are overrated. School spirit means absolutely nothing.</p>

<p>-There are TOO many loopholes in the system!</p>

<p>-People actually come to school without the intention to learn!?</p>

<p>-Learning is STILL awesome!</p>

10

<p>1) Drinking is fun.</p>

<p>2) Hangovers are not.</p>

<p>3) Raising your hand more than twice a class makes everybody think you're an arrogant freak. If you want friends, don't. </p>

<p>4) High school is f***ing miserable, teachers are stupid, kids are stupider, and college HAS to be better.</p>

11

<p>1) High school is *****ed up place. College, even community, is a completely another thing (with dual enrollment, at least).</p>

<p>2) People are all a bunch of asslicking douchebags. And so am I.</p>

<p>3) No one gives a **** about anything or anyone.</p>

<p>4) Popularity is for the freshmen.</p>

<p>5) Running is hella fun. Competitive running is the best sport ever invented.</p>

12

<p>^^Yay xc! Mt. Sac on Saturday..pretty exciting!</p>

13

<p>Yeah. Never thought I'd join XC. The only thing I regret is that I didn't join last year :)</p>

<p>But how can people not like it? I mean, running 5k... and you're not out of breath.. you can now focus only on speed. You start to run faster, and faster and you pass first guy.. second guy.. Mmmm... running!</p>

14

<p>The only thing better that is better than running is parkour, which is just an advanced version of running.</p>

15

<p>I think I'll stick to XC. It's much safer.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beRkXVrHbGY%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beRkXVrHbGY&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

16

<p>**** um.... nothing really.</p>

17

<p>That school dishes out worse food than a microwaved economy class dinner on a thirteen hour flight.</p>

18

<p>That high school was the biggest hell hole in the world and that it should be eliminated from the earth!</p>

19

<p>I learned that high school prepared me a lot for college and that the coursework in high school during my junior and senior years were a lot more rigorous than my current freshman year.</p>

20

<p>You have to go outside your little bubble in high school. It's amazing the things you find out.</p>