High School

I am a senior in high school, and let me tell you one thing: high school goes very very fast. It flies by. Have fun with it, meet new people. Because just like that your done, like I'm about to be coming up.

There is nothing to be scared of, almost all of the freshman will be in the same boat.

My biggest piece of advice is: Have no regrets. Its going to go by so fast. You dont want to be saying "I wish I would of done this when I was in high school."

Homework in high school is sooooo easy. I honestly have done 0 hours of homework this year at my house, I bull **** my way through it and have fun maintaining my C+ B- avg. I have a study hall first period and I still don't even do my homework there. I sleep the entire time.

High school isn't that bad, when I was a freshmen, we just moved here, so I knew absolutly no one. I say in about two weeks you'll have a little group of friends. And about freshmen hazing, just don't go around acting like "hey I'm in high school now, I'm a big kid!" Everyone hates that, and that's what'll get you hazed.

Some words of advice from a junior* in college:

*I've been a junior in college for... uhm... two or three years now. Oops.

Now, before I start, let me say that the advice I'm about to give you will make highschool sound REALLY FREAKING SCARY. So here's my first disclaimer: Highschool is not NEARLY as bad as what anyone will tell you. The advice I'm giving you will speak to the -worst case scenarios- in certain situations. There are far too many teen suicides, unwed mothers, drug addicts, etc. That -doesn't mean that you'll encounter these situations-. But if you do, you'll want to have some of these thoughts in the back of your head.

A lot of many highschools contain a lot of stupidity. Stupidity seems to be a constant in this world. Although, the stupidity you'll find in highschool is unlike the stupidity in the rest of the world. I would -LOVE- to go through high-school again, knowing what I know now. I would kick high-school's ass. Because I would be able to see that stupidity, recognize it for what it is, and NOT LET IT TOUCH ME.

The wisdom of the ages says that no amount of advice will penetrate the thick skulls of the next generation until they actually experience it themselves. So know: there will be idiocy. You will buy into at least a little of it. But don't worry... because!

(dramatic pause)

Remember these words-- "Highschool Ends". It does not last forever. You will never have to see these people again for the rest of your life if you don't want to, and if you do want to, then you're richly blessed and know how to keep such a relationship going anyway. I have two friends I've known since elementary school, though I haven't shared a school with them since 6th grade. They're now in completely different states but we keep in regular contact, visit enough other, etc. If you can find such friends, do so, and treasure them carefully.

Aside from those people, HIGHSCHOOL ENDS. Remember this.

Next thing to remember, is that "Highschool is NOTHING like what the rest of your life will be like". It doesn't resemble college in any way, heck, I'd argue that it hardly prepares you for it except in very limited ways, and in other ways... get this... actually de-prepares you for it.

The social structure of highschool is nothing like the rest of your life. The way things are organized acedemically is nothing like the rest of your life. The expectations demanded of you are nothing like the rest of your life. In some ways, this is a good thing. In other ways, not so good a thing. But you will survive, and remember... "HIGHSCHOOL ENDS". It does NOT last forever. Looking back now, it seems really darn short, though at the time I couldn't see it like that. Highschool also seems to blind you.


Now that the above has been stated, here's some advice for you:

1) Learn to be independant.

I don't just mean acedemically, although that's important too. (In college, the professor may not even tell you when the homework is due or what it is... he'll expect you to read the syllabus which has that entire schedule laid out for the whole semester) What I mean is, learn to make plans for yourself. Don't turn down help... ever... but also take the time to do things like -walk home- from school, without taking the bus or being driven, even if you live five miles away. It won't kill you, and learning that you -can- do it will help you out.

Respect your parents authority, but within that authority, live on your own. Go places you wish to go. Do things you wish to do. And don't be a bloody moron! If you can't learn to resist certain temptations now, you'll be in big trouble later!

Understand that after highschool, you are going to be innundated with more freedom than you've ever imagined before. Almost ALL fences are down. In college, I've never heard of a proffessor who takes attendance, and indeed, skipping class is barely frowned at... since learning will be your -own- responcibility. Your time is suddenly completely your own. You can write your own schedule... I've set up mine so that my earliest class starts at 3 pm, and I often stay up all night.

With all this freedom, all these limits removed, very VERY scary things become possible. Drinking yourself to death happens far too often. Drugs can mess up your life. You can party hard and completely ignore classes altogether and really screw things up. And there is NO ONE WHO WILL STOP YOU FROM DOING THESE THINGS BUT YOURSELF.

Which is why you should practice independance now, and make darn certain you're responcible with it. I'm going to be spending more time as an undergrad than I'd like to because of some stupid choices I've made. Don't repeat my mistakes.

2) Learn what you need to know

Another thing I didn't quite manage. Turns out that all that stuff I couldn't see the point of actually has uses... uses that I -need- for what I want to do with the rest of my life. But here's the thing... in highschool, they won't tell you why you need to know the stuff they teach. And much of it will sound really stupid to you... I garauntee this. It's hormonal. You'll be discovering new freedoms, including the freedom to question something's worth.

Some things they'll teach you -are- worthless. Some are not. If you can, find out exactly what you want to do with your life and make sure you know what that requires. If you can't... well, that's perfectly understandable and okay... but it means that you shouldn't take chances with what's important to know, and what isn't.

3) Don't kill yourself

Obviously, I mean this litterally, but I'm also talking figuratively. (If you remember the mantra: Highschool Ends, then no problem you could concievably face during these years should be able to drive you to suicide. Unfortunatly, some kids don't remember this) When you reach college, no one cares if you got a C, B, or A in a class. NO ONE. What matters is what you know. So learn what you need to know, and DON'T KILL YOURSELF WITH OVERWORK. If more hours studying (a scary phrase... I had no idea what "studying" meant when I went into highschool. It means: doing homework. It means: teaching yourself. It means: Learning. Really simple actually.) will enable you to get an A instead of a B... DON'T DO IT! Trust me on this one. NO ONE CARES.

And you need a LIFE. Have -FUN-! Trust me, this will be VERY possible. Revel in the fact that many adults will stop treating you like a little kid. You'll start earning priveledges. Glory in them. And have fun. Don't neglect responcibilities, but know that you do -HAVE- a safety net. That safety net will go away later on in life. Make use of it now when you have to.

More on this subject: Don't go overboard on organized activities. Sports, clubs, special interests... go ahead and have one or two, but BE CERTAIN TO LEAVE YOURSELF FREE TIME. This is VITAL. It ties into what I said earlier... later in life, you will no longer have any external structure to your life. You will one day be able to do -whatever you want-. Ease yourself into this situation gently. A sudden shock, going from too much structure to absolutely none can change lives completely, and you might not like who it'll turn you into. So be careful here.

Have fun. It's for your own saftey.

Weird how that works, huh?



And remember: Highschool is NOWHERE NEAR as frightening as I've made it out to be with this advice. College isn't as frightening either, although college will be a completely NEW experience, while highschool will, to be perfectly honest, be a lot like middle school. The only difference now, is that things are a little MORE before.

You'll do just fine. You'll get through. Do the minimum required by the school, do the maximum required for your life, and make sure you know where those boundaries are. If you don't know, you'll find out, and that process isn't nearly as scary as it sounds either. It's called "living life" and life just keeps on going on, as long as you let it.

Have fun!

The only thing that you need to keep in mind is: the amount of work in high school is very light. Compared to college or university, you can hardly kill yourself in high school with work unless you choose to take courses that require large amount of time in your final year.

sorry to bump this,but I'm new and had to reply on this.That somehow,Fieari ,was beautiful. I am just in my second year in High school,and no it isn't that bad at all.Especially scince the teachers are less...well,consord.But I also see why people picked on the Freshmen,though it's not near as bad as everyone says, in fact most of it's constructive criticism and fun to play along with,nobody labels you for it.No to get labled you need to do something extreme,like...no offense for this but being gay for instance,or saying one wrong sounding thing and some moron takes it and twists and turns it...don't happen often though.Anyway,back to my point. Freshmen get picked on simply because they are stupid.And not in a bad way,they are just new and are not used to being more mature(Yet most upperclassmen act worse and noone cares....oh well,another mystery for another time)and act well...dumb. And as you(should) know dumb people are annoying,unless you know they are playing around.But hey take personoids Long advice list it's pretty much right.But hey I got my own oppinions and you got yours so you make of it what you will...

Same probs here dude. We all have em. Good luck. Oh, and one more thing, it would be a good thing if you just like e-mail her and stuff. That works. Oh, and what you need to do is wait until you are sixteen, get a car, call her, drive to her house, meet her parents, and take her on a date. That also works.