My dearest little underclassman,
As an established member of this school, don’t stress too much during your first year. Keep your grades up, but don’t worry too much about bad grades or changing friendships, just get used to how the school works. No matter what I say, you’re bound to stress about everything about high school, and even if it feels like your life is falling apart, remember that it will all work out in the end. I felt like my whole world was changing for the worse, but by the end of the year, it was fine. So just stay positive. Another helpful thing everyone and their dog says, but it is good to remember, is to join clubs. Freshman year I thought, “Why would I join a club? I don’t need any of that.” Despite that, Sophomore Me is now a proud participant in many of the theatre productions. I never thought that I would be interested in any sort of performing arts, but now I’m in choir and I do tech and other small jobs for theater. If anything looks interesting, go for it! Even if it doesn’t work out, it’s such a good time in your life to get experience without much consequence if you don’t end up liking it.
Now, as for classes, if you’re interested in anything, even slightly, sign up for that class. Do you like attention? Join Intro to Theater. Do you like writing in any capacity? Join Journalism or Creative Writing. Do you like doodling in class? Join Drawing and Painting. Did you like playing with Play-Doh as a kid? Join Clay Arts. There are so many fun classes that I never would’ve signed up for if I weren’t shoved into them because my forecasting got messed up. The biggest example that I can think of has changed the whole view of my future. In my freshman year, I had an empty spot for my 6th block and the only free class me and my counselor could find that still had space was Floral Design. Although the teacher wasn’t the best, I found my love for plants. I’d always found plants cool, and always had a garden, but this is when I really realized that I could make a job out of it. I’ve now taken Horticulture and Exploring Plants, and I’m trying for the Agricultural Pathway Chord. So just go for it, I promise it will be worth it!
Now skipping. I know so many people who are chronic skippers. And guess what? They are failing some, if not most of their classes. Even for classes that have online options, it’s incredibly difficult to catch up. I missed a week of school once and I’ve only just caught up, 3 months later. And I’m still missing a lab for Chemistry. If you want to maintain a higher GPA, then you must listen to what all the teachers are saying about the 97% attendance rate.
Okay, so everyone talks about teachers. Some are lovely, but some are horrid. For example, Mr. McFarland, my High School Success teacher, was probably one of the worst teachers I’ve ever had. He yelled, was incredibly strict and condescending. With these teachers, it’s important to just do your best, show up to class no matter how horrible their classes may be, and just be quiet. But, with the bad ones, there are always excellent teachers as well. Make sure to enjoy the good teachers, and use them to your advantage, they can help you in many different ways, even if it’s outside of their classroom.
Good luck with your high school adventure and make sure to have fun!
-Mitchell Sherman
