I remember my first year of high school like it was yesterday. No matter how many times I was told that high school would “fly by,” I didn’t believe it. Trust me though, it really does. The fact that This time next week will be the second day of my senior year, is unreal. I truly can’t believe that it’s already been three years since I was a freshman in high school. I know three years isn’t that long, but it feels like it’s barely been three days. As a freshman, I also never listened to the the advice I got from my older friends. I was so stupid.
Before I go ahead and give all you incoming freshman my words of wisdom, I want to share a funny story that will most likely make you guys feel better about your first day in high school. My first day of school freshman year, I got lost going on my way to my first class, English 1. I walked all the way across campus and walked into what I thought was my class room, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. When I opened the door I walked right into a senior Honors Physics class (eeeeeek). The stairs I received from the full class of senior made me sprint as fast as I could out of the building. The fact that I was walking into the science building for my English class should have been a red flag (so should have the sign on the door that read “Physics Lab” that I didn’t see until after), but I distinctly remember thinking to myself, “That’s so weird that I have english in the science building!” I’ve never been very good at picking up on obvious clues. I ended up having to have the head of school escort me to the correct classroom. Talk about embarrassing. My suggestion: read the signs.
- Study hard now and thank yourself later. I can’t tell how how many times I was told that I needed to work as hard as I could freshman year. I seriously can’t stress this enough. If I could go back and redo something it would be studying harder during my freshman and sophomore “easy” years. Trust me, when your a senior and you see all the statistics for the schools you want to apply to, you’ll thank yourself and it will all be worth it.
- Branch out and make new friends. I knew about half of my freshman class going into the school year, but by the end of the school year I still only really knew 75% of the class. Not going to lie, at the beginning of sophomore year there was a girl in one of classes who I swore was a transfer student until one of my friends told me that she had been at school the entire previous year. Note, there are only 79 students in my class. Don’t let that yourself be that person who doesn’t recognize one of your classmates after an entire year. Just don’t.
- Try everything. This is one thing I can happily say that I did do and I am so glad that I did. I tried student council, I tried dance, I took art classes, I joined mock trial, and I was also in a choir that travelled to Italy. Not only did this enable me to figure out what I liked, what I was good at, and what just wasn’t “my thing,” but it also helped me become friends with students in every grade and make amazing memories.