INCOMING FRESHMEN DON’T PANIC! You’re going to be fine. I remember when I was preparing to start high school. I had no clue what to expect. I thought that my classes would be too hard and I would fail out of high school. (Unless you actually don’t do anything that likely won’t happen.) I was prepared to get hours upon hours of homework each night and not be able to see my friends, but from my experience homework wasn’t overwhelming and I was able to stay on top of it.
I was also worried about pop quizzes. If you’ve watched any movie about high school, you’ve most likely seen the dreaded pop quizzes that teachers give out of nowhere. I always worry because I’m bad at studying unless I have something specific to work toward. But thankfully I only had one pop quiz that actually affected my grade.
One of the biggest worries I had, which probably seemed silly to the upperclassmen, was getting lost. Once you find out where your classes are you get pretty good at going to the right place. On my first day, I was supposed to go to class 603 for my C block but I went to 306 which was actually my D block. I walked in late to my C block and everyone had to get up and move their seat (because we were sitting based on last name.) I think that I’m the only person who remembers that though so don’t stress too much about looking stupid, because most people are trying to make sure they don’t look stupid and are too busy to care about whatever mistakes you might make.
Now here are a couple of tips I have.
- Join clubs and do stuff you’re interested in. I know you’ll hear this from everyone else, but it’s true. It’s not just for your college application though, it’s for your enjoyment. Don’t focus fully on your school work, make time for friends and clubs you enjoy.
- Actually study. Throughout middle school, I barely studied (I honestly have no clue how I passed with honors.) Prepare for tests and work hard on big assignments. All it takes is thirty minutes of work each night for classes with tests or projects. I know it’s hard to not procrastinate but it’ll really help your grade if you sacrifice a few measly minutes.
- Enjoy the year. Don’t be a downer. I mean you can if you want, but you’re not going to have as good of a time if you complain about everything. The years go fast, so take advantage of having fun in probably the easiest year you’ll have in highschool.
Freshman year isn’t as scary as you might think. After a couple weeks you’ll settle in and see what the next 4 years of your life will be like. Good luck freshies, don’t fail!
