With all of this worry, stress, and pressure put on us, I feel like a lot of competitve students (myself included) forget about the “overall HS experience”. Cheesy, but true. But I can honestly say that even though I care deeply about my academics and future, it’s not as important as being passionate about your work and having fun, instead of doing a club or activity just to write another line of EC’s down. What do you think?
Well, so far it’s been okay, but senior year isn’t over yet. If this thread is still active/isn’t closed then I’ll recap after graduation.
Your ECs should only be things that you are passionate about and have fun with, so if that doesn’t describe what you are doing with your time, then you should change your activities.
So far I’d say I have, but it’s only my sophomore year so…
Not even a little
But @mommyrocks I can’t put down partying as an EC :))
To a certain extent, yes. I wasn’t expecting to meet and befriend students at my school since they all knew each other already as freshmen and I’m introverted, so I was really surprised and happy when I managed to make friends sophomore year. But, on the other hand, I get stressed and too obsessive over schoolwork, so I’m usually more anxious about school than I am excited.
I’ve learned a lot academically and personally, but I’ve had about as little fun as is humanly possible. Don’t regret it at all, though.
Surprisingly, yes, although most people probably don’t agree with my definition of “fun”. Like @mommyrocks said, I either loved my ECs (most of the time) or learned to love my ECs. I’m not really a party person and I enjoy being alone and doing whatever, so I had plenty of fun going to only ~10 parties/social events a year and spending the rest of my free time on the internet, messaging friends, and reading.
Yes. I’ve been through a lot of drama my sophomore year and challenge myself in my sophomore year more than ever (7 APs…). I also talk to my teachers a lot and learn a lot of valuable stuff from them! Made a couple of really good friends.
@mommyrocks Nothing I have fun doing would go on a college app
Besides struggling in academics (not that bad) due to personal problems (I did have rigorous schedules throughout), it was amazing so far. I cannot wait until senior year starts in less than a week.
Classes, friends, teachers, clubs, and drama make up the overall high school experience. From the day you stepped in high school as a freshman to the day you walk the stage as a high school graduate you realize that HS is basically your last moments before you hit the real world and wish you could relive every precious second of it. I don’t know about anyone else but I think the best part about high school was how diverse it was. For example, from freshman to senior year you will have known 7 different high school classes like I’m the class of 2016 so the senior class when I was a freshman was the class of 2013 and the freshman class now is the class of 2019 which means you befriended people from classes 2013 through 2019. Remember when having upperclassmen friends were cool and then you were sad by the time they graduated? Now you’ll be graduating and then your underclassmen friends will be sad. I used to think high school would be another long four year process but now I realize how fast time is passing by so you got to enjoy every single moment of it!
Despite being excited to move on and go to college, I love high school. Senior year is still coming up and I’m pumped for every part of it… seeing students again, talking with teachers, prom, parties, clubs, graduation, and all. I’m not saying I love having a bunch of AP classes, getting 4 hours of sleep each night, or the constant pressure to maintain perfect grades, but I am extremely happy with the group of friends I’ve surrounded myself with and would not be able to juggle everything if I wasn’t able to have down time with them. As a result, I’m grateful that I’ve been able to experience things (both good and bad) to the point where I wouldn’t feel so much like a deer in headlights when moving on to college. Academics-wise, I find it’s enjoyable to challenge yourself with difficult courses and see the hard work pay off. I’m also competitive by personality, which I feel can only cause useless stress if it becomes overwhelming since anxiety from striving for perfection is crippling at times, so it’s really only enjoyable when it’s focused on self-improvement rather than constant concerns over classmates’ progress.
Oh except Sophomore year, that year sucked. lol
I didn’t have a great high school experience:
The first school I couldn’t stand. I transferred because of bullying.
The second school was an “alternative” school. After a week, I began to ask myself if I was in an accredited high school. The classes were extremely easy. In many classes, most of our work consisted of making power-points with a few slides. It would take us six months to read ONE 200 pg. book, because the students couldn’t understand the material. (Nothing against those with disabilities, but I would’ve liked to been informed most students had them BEFORE I began attending).
I had a 3.8 that I wasn’t proud of, because I felt I was doing NOTHING daily. This school also made it very difficult for me to transfer. I probably would be an AP student if it wasn’t for this school.
I’m a rising senior, and now I go to a public high school. It’s one of the worst in NJ, but I’m much happier, and I’m learning a lot. It does go by fast!