Sunday, August 12, 2012

Back to School: Advice to the Freshmen

So my lovely school has decided to start incredibly early this year; we're starting on Tuesday. Yes, this Tuesday, as in two days. I'm so jealous of all of you starting in September. Quite frankly, I would rather start later and end later, so for once I could have school on my birthday, and I could have a longer summer break. One of my friends and I were talking and he starts on October 30th. What is that? I was in disbelief. Anyway, back to the main topic of this article: I have made it to sophomore year! So I have a few words of wisdom for all the frosh.

1. High school is not as scary as it seems. Family and media may make it appear terrifying and teachers won't care about you at all, and the upperclassmen will shove you out of the way. Trust me, I go to public school in the poorest county of Indiana. It is not that bad. Teachers are just looking for a little respect and as long as you're a good kid, freshman year will be a breeze.

2. Know your place. I know, I know, you're so excited to be in high school! But don't start bragging out of line, especially involving any upperclassmen or anything. And don't let rumors spread about you, or anyone you're associated with. If that occurs, you can kiss your social life good bye. Gossip spreads like wildfire on dry grass on a humid day in high school. And don't push your way into the senior crowd or anything dumb like that, unless you're the one percent who is effortlessly accepted everywhere. But the majority of us aren't like that.

3. Don't expect your best friends to be with you all the time. Schedules change, classes are different. They can't always be with you, and it's a good way to meet lots of new people or talk to old people you don't know well. Friends can make all the difference in high school, they can push you to great things or they can tear you down and ruin your life. It's your choice.

4. Walk away from bad things. This one seems awfully obvious, but some people think pot and drinking will make them cool. Trust me, you'll look so stupid and the school will talk about you behind your back. This one kid I know was a great soccer player; he had an awesome life, good grades, top of the social ladder. But one day, he was high and drunk at the same time, and decided to go for a little ride in his car. He fell asleep, and caused a seven car pile-up. SEVEN. He got arrested and expelled that day. Don't make that mistake.

5. Partying constantly is not a good decision. Sure, being popular seems like the coolest thing ever in high school, homecoming/prom queen or whatever. Seriously, if your grades suck and you don't do anything besides hang out with your friends all the time, you're screwed once it's time for college applications. Suddenly, you'll be that loser who got a one on your AP tests, and college admissions doesn't care if you hosted that super awesome party, or if you have a cool ride. Some people will be the cool ones in a few years when they graduate from Harvard or Yale, and the popular people will be left in the dust. It's definitely a hard decision, to not always want to go hang out, or attend that game. But in the end, it's definitely worth it.

That's about all I've got, just go out there and enjoy your freshman year! Have a great time!

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