High School Tips

With high school coming up, in many states, in a few days, I thought'd it be beneficial to dig up one of my old Tumblr posts. Without further ado, here are Ten Tips You Need to Survive High School

1. Join groups, get involved but manage your time.

You may be reading this any be like: “This fool can’t be serious, how is it possible that one can be so involved and manage one’s time at the same time. While this is a valid point, I personally found it that when I was involved the most, grades actually skyrocketed. It sounds like the mentality is that when a person is so involved, they subconsciously prioritize. If this is very tough for you: BUY A PLANNER and so this brings me to my next tip.

2. Buy a planner!!

If I actually brought myself to buy a planner every year of my high school career, I probably would not forgot about homework assignments and such. And thus, if I did not forget, my grades would have probably been better. You also may be like “Okay, I have an iPhone or Android or what have you, it has an electronic planner in it.” This is perfectly valid as in this technological age, pencil and paper tasks are out the door. You need something you can physically touch and read or what have you. Also, a person can remember much better when they can see something in writing as opposed to something that they just electronically type and then forget. I have read something that if you write something in a certain color, you’ll remember it better. I do not know if this has been valid or not but if you think it may help you then go for it.

3. Don’t be afraid to talk to new people

This was my brother’s tip so I may or may not have much to say about this one. I’ll try my best though although I can tell you this explanation will not be as long though. Yep…don’t be afraid to talk to new people. High school is another chance to start fresh, reinvent yourself per se. Make no mistake, some classes in high school may be so work-involved and so complicated, you’ll never get out alive if you don’t talk to new I jpeople or make some friends. Believe me, you’ll want a chance to vent to these people. Find a nice middle between a loner and a complete chatterbox and you’ll do just fine. Even if it’s just to vent to these people or ridicule some teachers (let’s hope it doesn’t get to that point), and sometimes the people that you talk to may have some advice on some teachers or workload involved in a class, I’ll touch on that later on tip #7.

4. Ask questions

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Swallow your pride and ask whenever you don’t understand something. I can guarentee you someone else in the classroom will have the same question that you do, do NOT think that they don’t because they do. You may think that you look stupid doing so but you won’t. You may think others will think less of you for asking questions but it’s your grade and not theirs. You wanna ask questions that other people think are dumb questions? Go right ahead. Asking questions is a great strategy, ask why, ask how. If you find yourself in a situation doing a problem, correcting a sentence or what have you, ask the teacher for a different problem and work it out or correct it in what way you think is correct. And ask your teacher if you did it right. The way I just described is an excellent way of learning in a classroom about any subject.

P.S: I have a tough time writing something without straying away from the subject, so if clarification is needed then just ask.

5. Don’t use electronics in class unless it’s permitted

Just don’t do it unless the teacher calls for it. It is an extremely bad idea and no matter how good you are at multitasking, you just will not find yourself paying attention to the lesson of that day. You will either find yourself absorbed on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or what have you or paying attention and learning. The only time I had my laptop out in high school was when I got permission for my teacher and we were both curious of how a mathematical formula came about. So yeah. This tip is only here because schools have just begun to put BYOT in place.

6. Do homework

DO HOMEWORK!!! This should be #1 but I guess I may turn this into a bulleted list. This has been ingrained in your head since the beginning of your educational career but this cannot be stressed enough. If I bothered to do my homework, I would have probably been a straight A student and you can too!! Just remember to do your homework and that’s including optional homework also!!

7. Ask the seniors or upperclassmen for help.

Seniors are the oldest and the most experienced students of the school and can be the great resources to one! One can ask them about academic work, variety of tests, about the teachers, and about universities. They can guide, help, and even provide information very easily to younger students. Remember tip #3 don’t be afraid to talk to new people – the seniors are the key! Also seniors have experience so they can give you more tips on how to survive high school, how to survive certain teachers even certain classes. Even though it has been rumored that seniors look down on freshmen and see them as “Fresh meat,” seniors will be glad to help out freshmen. If you remember that Family Guy episode where Chris gets dropped off by Lois and everybody brings out their paddle when Lois yells “Fresh meat!,” just remember that it’s a cartoon and it really does not happen.

8. Don’t sleep in class your classes.

I’m just gonna provide a personal example. Senior year, English IV, fell asleep while reading Beowulf, test day came, made a 32 on the test. DON’T SLEEP IN CLASS!!!

9. Get to know the teachers.

Knowing one’s teachers can be one of the tickets to success in high school. By knowing the characteristics and personalities of teachers – one can easily estimate on the “type” of work that one should produce. Also, teachers can be of guidance to one’s queries about the real world outside high school, as well as supporting one on non-academic projects.

10. Be yourself .

Be confident, be assured and most of all don’t worry what other people think, you are your own person now.