My name is Ava, and I’m a senior graduating at semester! School was never my strong suit. I really struggled coming into high school because everything changed from middle school to high school. After my almost four-year experience, this is my advice to freshmen.
1.. Care about your grades. Freshman year is the most important for your grades. Ask for help if you need it. Every year counts, and it is not ‘cool’ to be failing high school or to have a 1.0 GPA. If you hate school, there are ways to get credits without being at school – Youth apprenticeship, Start College Now program – or just graduate early.
2.. Your freshman friends are most likely not going to be your senior friends. Let them go. Meet new people. Reconnect with old friends. Your life isn’t going to end because you grew apart from the kid you knew since 4K. Be yourself.
3.. Take the opportunities. Travel with the school, join all the clubs, be in the musical, go to the football games and school dances. Money comes back, the memories don’t.
4.. School dances will always be lame if you don’t take it upon yourself to create the fun. The music will always suck. Also, it is cringy to everyone if you grind on your one-month fling and awkward for the teacher that needs to tell you to stop. Get a room.
5.. It is really embarrassing to have bad grammar. Pay attention in ELA and get lost in a book. Books can bring you to way better places than your phones will ever.
6.. IF YOUR AGES DON’T TOUCH, NEITHER DO YOU! Freshmen, you are in school with literal adults. You can’t drive yet. You can’t go to an R-rated movie. You can have a job but can’t work past 7. Worry about that before you worry about someone years ahead of you in a completely different spot in life. Most high school relationships don’t last.
7.. Take the Journalism class. It’s an ELA equivalent. Journalism teacher Mr. Guyette makes you think and reflect on your life, school-wide issues and random crap that really wouldn’t matter to anyone more than my therapist has me reflect on my problems and trauma. You think you would use your brain more in a core class. Also, you get to be noisy and interview important people.
8.. Take the math, ELA and science equivalent classes if you don’t plan on going to a 4-year university. AP classes are a lot of work but will save money in the long run.
9.. No one cares enough to remember what you wore or what you did or what you say, but they will remember how you made them feel. Be nice. Don’t be a people-pleaser, though. Find your balance. You can’t help someone that doesn’t want to be helped.
10.. Study the school handbook and learn how to access the school board policies. Your rights are important, and you need to know them. Some people are very uneducated in their surroundings. You need to be educated in yours. Don’t take it from anyone else.
