Freshman year of high school is … weird. It’s a little scary, a little nerve-wracking, and a little intimidating. Looking back, freshman year was really fun but there are some things I wish I had known.
The start of high school can be quite a challenge if you have no idea what to expect. Some of you might just be getting over the fact that there are no bullies who give you swirlies in the bathrooms or shove you into compacted lockers. High school is definitely not how the movies portray it to be, but I’m quite sure we all knew that. If I had known half the advice I do now, the transformation from middle school to high school would have been a little smoother. To make things easier for those freshman out there who are having a little trouble, or anyone else who needs it, here is my advice to you.
1. Being out is better than being in
Everyone is told that high school is all about fitting in and being “popular” is the only way to make friends; well, I am here to tell you that this is a lie. A lesson I have learned throughout my years of high school is that the “cool crowd” isn’t that cool. Be friends with everybody; expand your horizon. Be who you want to be and true friends will stick with you. Losing a friend is painful, stressful and a downright terrible experience, but losing a friend is a part of life. You could be best friends with someone one day and mortal enemies the next. No one prepared me for this and I expected that my best friends who entered high school with me would be my best friends who would graduate with me. I do not regret losing the friends I’ve lost. Also I have met some different kinds of people through those experiences that I have now become very close to that I wouldn’t have if I was still stuck on my old friends. It is okay to be upset about the loss of a good friend, but if they were a true friend, wouldn’t you still be friends?
2. To slack or not to slack?
As a freshman the workload will not be as difficult in comparison to the years ahead, but slacking off on homework and classwork will catch up to you in the end. As many might believe that teachers just assign pointless homework to keep us from doing things we actually care about, this really isn’t true and all of this “pointless” homework will be very beneficial in the end. You can be dedicated to your studies and make time for fun. Tipping the scale and spending all your energy on just one aspect of the high school life won’t help you get the most out of your freshman year. Learning to do your assignments on time and correctly is a great skill to practice and will help you all throughout high school. I know you might think doing your essay the night before at 10 p.m. sounds like fun, but let’s think about this. End this habit while you are a freshman because it will eventually end up carrying over to your junior year, which will be your hardest year of them all. Putting things off until crunch time will be your biggest mistake, trust me.
3. Decisions, decisions, decisions…
One of the potentially bad things about high school is that people get introduced to new things. I’m not talking about trying out for a new club or activity, which is advised for freshman or any student to do. Let’s just say if your Red Solo Cup is filled up with anything other than soda, then you should re-evaluate the choices you are making. This is very important and should be to all freshmen because you face situations like this a lot in high school. If something doesn’t seem right to you or that voice in your head starts telling you to not do something, listen to it. We all know what seems comfortable to us and what isn’t. By listening to your intuition, you can avoid making a decision that you may later regret.
