Freshmen (Priya)
Hey incoming freshmen, you made it through middle school!
Every 3-7 years in someone’s life there will inevitably be a new transition, whether it be a new job, a new place of residence, but for the incoming freshmen, this will be the first year of your inevitable graduation path. Freshman year, frankly, will be the most simple, freshman year is the year where academics aren’t always your first priority (they shouldn’t be your last either), and where you find your interests for the future years of your life, joining clubs, taking fun electives, maintaining current friendships and making new ones.
Although finding your interests may seem jarring it is important to remember that your interests can and will change through these next 4 years of high school.
Grades are definitely more important in high school, more so than middle school, and the curriculum is also significantly harder, but stressing over classes and grades is not healthy. Although getting a 4.0 on your record may be ideal, it is nothing to give up extracurriculars for.
Overall, my advice for you is to find your interests, participate in clubs, do your school work, learn to manage your time (it’s a lot more needed than you think), and not worry too much about college. Although the opening of high school can be jarring, I am sure that you will have it all under control in time.
Sophomore (Ava)
You’re finally a sophomore! Yay!
My advice to you is to reflect on your relationships this year. It’s okay to leave an unhealthy friendship. You might be afraid to stop talking to someone, but you’re not obligated to stay with them. It’s sometimes hard to identify an unhealthy relationship. If a friend is frequently leaving you out, talking about you behind your back, and betraying your trust, it’s an unhealthy friendship.
However, I know leaving a friendship can be difficult. I would personally either tell the person that you don’t want to be friends anymore or start slowly distancing yourself from them. Ghosting is also okay to do, only if necessary. Afterward, you might feel lonely. But you should get to know more people in your classes, start new (healthy!) friendships, join a club or a sport, and get to know the people there. You will be happier and more relaxed if you leave an unhealthy relationship.
Junior (Rekhaa)
Congrats my friend! You’ve made it halfway through this article and halfway through your high school journey! Although I’m sure it feels like nothing has changed, I promise that it doesn’t get real until you’re rapidly flipping through your Google folders and hitting refresh on the StudentVue app, in hopes of finding your schedule for the following year.
Junior year is going to go by a lot faster than you might expect, but from getting your driver’s license to building your resume, make every little moment count. Learn to embrace uncertainty and persevere through the tough times you might face. Remember that tough times never last, that tough people do, and believe in yourself even if your entire world feels upside down.
Everybody is different and your path might be completely different from mine but if you’re just looking for what has worked well for me junior year, here’s a list of six things that helped me power through my year:
- I started looking for colleges I would want to apply to, and made a rough list of 20+ schools that were an absolute dream to me. You do not have to be practical at this time, let your imagination lead the way.
- Plan for a good time to take your first attempt at the SAT or ACT. Although schools have remained test blind for a couple years now, many highly reputable universities are bringing back their standardized test score requirements.
- Openly discuss career ideas with your parents. Trust me on this one, you’ll be surprised by the large networks of connections your parents have built. Networking is an important part of life and you could attempt to shadow or intern with people you’ve already established relationships with. This will put you ahead of thousands of applicants waiting for their resume to be picked.
- Focus on yourself. You are your biggest and only asset at this point in life. If you don’t like your food habits, for example, you have complete control over what you put into your body and you can change it. Do everything you can to make yourself feel like your ideal self because these little things are going to make a big difference when it comes to your discipline and accountability.
- Later in the year, if you’re anxious or stressed, find a getaway you can turn to. It can be anything. Mine, for example, has always been going for a run with earbuds in.
- Last but not least, ask for help! I cannot emphasize enough the importance of asking for help when you’re running out of ideas. People live different lives and how I see the color blue might be different from how you see the color blue. So, discuss ideas and understand different perspectives when you’re stumped for answers.
Although important, school does not define anything about you as a person. Much like we spend on insurance as a means of security, we spend on diplomas as a means of job security (not true at all). I want you to take life on as your journey to pursue what interests you the most.
Senior (Elliot)
Congrats to the incoming senior class; you all officially have 75% of your high school days behind you. I’m sure every high school junior that has ever gone on to their senior year has been told the exact same thing, something along the lines of “college applications + first semester are horrible and made me feel miserable, but hey second semester is the most fun I’ve ever had.” This sentiment is not inaccurate, but it doesn’t capture any of the nuances that make senior year so unique. It would be fair to say that for a large part of the senior class, the school year starts in the summer before. The modern-day college application process is arduous and stressful. You can never spend too much time working on your application material and the next thing you know, it’s your first day of senior year.
First semester is no cakewalk. Between balancing your workload from school, applying to colleges, editing essays, and doing senior shenanigans, your schedule is bound to be packed. Second semester changes the game, as most of your conflict will come from your own laziness. If you thought the end-of-year burnout was bad in years prior, seniors get a case so bad it’s been given a name: “senioritis”. Every homework assignment you receive during this time will require a herculean effort to even start, and as a result, your grades might slip. Try your best to combat the senioritis, but also remember to be proud of yourself and don’t beat yourself up too much over your second semester grades. You’ve made it to the very end of your K-12 education, and you at least owe it to yourself to finish strong.
