<p>I'm going into 9th grade next year, and I'm not sure exactly what to expect or do to prepare myself for high school.
So, what are the top five or ten things you wish you knew before you started high school or during your freshman year, early experiences, etc.
Thanks~</p>
<p>Do as many extracurricular activities as possible and take the hardest possible classes.</p>
<p>Thank me later</p>
<p>1) That my friends would change A LOT
2) That I would still have to take pretty much the same classes as everyone else in my grade for my first two years
3) That I could maintain friendships if I continued to do the same activities but if I quit said activities I would lose some friends
4) That people aren’t as interested in everything I am even if they seem to be
5) That I would get made fun of for being small
6) That my boyfriend (we met and started dating in 9th grade) would be the only person that really understood me
7) That there’s a lot more going on underneath the surface then I knew about</p>
<ol>
<li><p>That I would lose friendships with A LOT of people and be friends with people I never imagined.</p></li>
<li><p>You will see something like a “loss of innocence” with the people you grew up
with. (i.e. sex, drugs, partying)</p></li>
<li><p>That it’s not a good idea to just goof off and joke around my freshman year. It literally killed my grades and GPA and I can’t really go back and change it, which sucks.</p></li>
<li><p>In middle school, (or at least mine) they would always say: “oh, your grades don’t really matter now, they only matter in high school.” which is true, but created a really bad work ethic for me and made it hard to adjust in high school. Start practicing a good work ethic and study habits now.</p></li>
<li><p>People will always judge and gossip, but you just have to move on and get over it. It’s hard, but if you’re focused on something, it won’t even matter to you.</p></li>
<li><p>That its good to be friends with upperclassmen! My sister was a senior and school president my freshman year, so she helped me and and taught me everything I needed to know, but if you don’t have an older sibling, be friends with an upperclassmen! They can tell you the ins and outs of your school, the faux pas at your school, the right teachers and plus they can give you rides and other things!</p></li>
<li><p>Find something(s) you’re good at and enjoy doing AND STICK WITH THEM! Cheer was my favorite sport and basically the only thing I excelled at, but a series of dumb decisions, bad coaches and unfortunate events happened, and now, i’m no longer in cheer. Which sucks. And I also quit track, which also sucks. Stick with what you know and like, but try new things!</p></li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li><p>People change. They grow up, they drift apart, they become people you never before knew. Someone who was once your best friend might be a total stranger in the course of a few years. </p></li>
<li><p>Failure is imminent. I remember getting the shakes back in Middle School if I scored lower than a 95 on a test or a quiz - four years later, and dozens of bombed quizzes, I’ve found that it’s in your best interest not to become too distraught over a few bad grades. Learn from them.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>No offense to preamble1776, but if you go in to high school just waiting to get a bad grade…you will be tolerant of bad grades, you will get used to them and the bad grades will just keep coming.</p>
<p>DO NOT accept bad grades. Use them as motivation to get a 100 on the next test/quiz/etc…</p>
<p>Basically, just dont sell yourself short</p>
<p>I had a best friend from like the second grade through my sophomore year. We were really, really close, truly “best friends”; part of the reason was he was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in the summer following 4th grade, and we grew infinitely closer as he fought and won his battle with cancer. I remember distinctly going to his house 6 of the 7 days of the week to see how he was doing. Anyway, I had always gone to Catholic school and he had gone to public school, but in the eighth grade I (with some help from his father) convinced him to go to Catholic high school with me. In the end though, he hung out with a group of kids completely different and outside of my group of friends. Our friendship strained throughout freshman year, went to the breaking point countless times during my sophomore year, and is now virtually nonexistent. I wish we were still friends, but I guess I’ve come to understand that’s a part of growing up. You’re going to lose people, and sometimes you really can’t control it.</p>
<p>I wish I’d known I was going to eventually lose the best friend I ever had upon entering high school. It would have been easier. Keep in mind that high school is a long four years, but surround yourself with people who care about you as much as you care about them. </p>
<p>You’ll make friends and lose friends. You’ll most likely change…a lot. But hold on to those closest to you. In the end, when we all look back on our lives, we won’t be thinking of the jobs we had, where we went to college, how much money we made; we’ll be thinking of those genuine moments of human interaction that gave us so much hope, so much inspiration, so much joy. But perhaps most importantly, we’ll be thinking of our friends, those select few who stuck it out with you and suffered through this life, right by your side.</p>
<p>Never underestimate how selective a college is. Unless it’s a genuine safety, don’t get too attached to any school. </p>
<p>Most of the mistakes I made freshman year were just from not giving a damn about college…I didn’t even fully understand what college was. You’re on this website in ninth grade, so you’ll probably avoid that type of thing by default.</p>
<ol>
<li>Don’t compare yourself to other people. Yes use it as motivation to do better than that one kid on a test, but not everyone can get 100s on every test.</li>
<li>Don’t take classes you won’t be able to handle</li>
</ol>
<p>That you can’t get something for nothing</p>
<p>Getting a B is not the end of the world. REALLY!!</p>
<p>This is a good question. I would say to come up with a study plan, I was a procrastinator and didn’t put in the effort, therefore I got bad grades and had bad experiences. Also, don’t be afraid to ask questions. This is probably my biggest problem now. I had bad experiences with people rolling their eyes and annoyed every time I had a question. This happened so often that I stopped asking questions and asking for help that I suffered terribly. You are in charge of your own learning no one else.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>People change. Expand your friend group because you may lose some of your old friends.</p></li>
<li><p>Participate as much as possible. Make the most of your high school experience.</p></li>
<li><p>Become friends with upperclassmen. They will help you tremendously.</p></li>
<li><p>Have fun. Don’t stress out for all four years because you’re wasting your life away, in my opinion. Try to have a good balance of school and fun (I designate Friday nights and all of Saturday to hanging out with friends). </p></li>
<li><p>You’re teachers are there to help (most of the time). Don’t be afraid to speak up or go for extra help.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Having no friends may suck, but it’s probably the best way to ensure top grades.</p>
<p>I isolated myself too much from friends, family, church, classmates, fellow competitors, and other circles. I’m extremely introverted and it took me too long to learn the importance of relationships. In hindsight, I’ve been rude and cold toward friends and acquaintances by avoiding social situations, taking weeks to reply to simple emails/Facebook messages (or just not replying at all), declining party invitations because I didn’t feel like going, and all but ignoring people. Had I spent more time with them, communicated more often, cared about them, opened myself up to them, and pursued common interests, I’d be much happier.</p>
<p>I’d also be farther along intellectually. I’m largely autodidactic, but that requires immense motivation and discipline which I don’t have. I have an on-and-off history of addictive video gaming. I’ve never seen it as a way to escape loneliness or “cruel reality” (I live a pretty fantastic, privileged life); spending >8 hours per day on a game simply feels as natural as eating or sleeping. When gaming interfered with school studying, I compensated by cheating on tests and skipping assignments whenever possible. In perspective, cheating was about as bad as stealing from the cookie jar. The root of the problem is my addiction to instant gratification and reluctance to devote mental effort to something outside artificial game worlds. I don’t enjoy video games nearly as much as chess, mathematics, software development, debate, and other intellectual pursuits. Video games are merely more familiar and comfortable.</p>
<p>Some results: I quit piano lessons; I gave up chess despite significant competitive potential; I haven’t really learned anything about math since teaching myself calculus when I was 15; I’ve never written software bigger or useful than scripts of a few hundred lines of code for personal use; I was a consistently mediocre debater; I never progressed farther than the first chapters of the books on my reading list. If cheating in high school was stealing from the cookie jar, then this right here was skipping meals.</p>
<p>I don’t think addictive gaming would have felt so natural if I had stronger and more diverse relationships. I wouldn’t have become so dependent on the instant gratification reward pathway. I’d still play a variety of video games and put effort into them, just without seeking the meaning of life in them.</p>
<p>When I went to UCLA straight out of high school, I was not socially or intellectually ready for the college experience. Because of the self-defeating habits and life outlook I’d developed in high school, I didn’t try to meet many people and I isolated myself from the few I did meet. I also slacked off academically to the point of not going to class at all. This time, I had neither the safety net of cheating nor of living with a family who cares about me.</p>
<p>I chose to leave UCLA after one year despite the opportunity to continue there on probation and even erase bad grades from my GPA by retaking failed classes. I’m currently living with my family and going to a community college. I got all As in easy classes last semester, but I haven’t changed much since UCLA. I still isolate myself, shy away from intellectual stimulation, and procrastinate like hell. At my mom’s advice, I’m even talking to a psychiatrist about the possibility of depression.</p>
<p>I wish I knew about competitions like the USABO and USNCO so I could start studying for them right away. Also, I wish I didn’t underestimate how hard some AP tests are - check with review books and practice tests to see if the teacher is teaching at AP level or not.</p>
<p>Don’t start tripping if your grades drop over a period of time, you can always bring them back up if you try hard enough, and friends/girlfriends? They’re not worth ruining your education/future, so don’t do anything stupid or illegal for someone you’ll most likely never see after you graduate.</p>