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My Freshman Year

In middle school, I thought that the transition to high school would be something I wasn’t really prepared to handle. I would be taking five Honors level classes so I anticipated that the amount of work for all these classes would be unbearable. When freshman year came around, the ideas I held about what the year would be like came true. I overstressed all of my classes and studied for many hours. I got into bad habits that year. I would come home from school at 2:30PM and sleep until about 4:30PM. At the same time, I wasn’t finding a good balance. I had unhealthy eating habits, worried far too much about the future and didn’t put my own health first.

My fears and concerns were produced from an insecurity about what would happen if I didn’t do well in school. I got caught up in the future and neglected the now. I was totally living for a fantasy future.

Luckily, as the years went on I began to raise in my awareness of what I was doing. I noticed my habits and I wanted to change them. I was able to change the way I was doing things so that eventually each and every year became easier. I began to enjoy school, assignments, and started to cherish the process instead of viewing it as work.

My change in awareness may be attributed to personal development as well as new views I held about my identity in the world.

10 Tips for High School Students

1. Take Care of Yourself First- by far the most important thing to realize is that YOU are most important. Stay connected with your self and be healthy. Do not take any demands so seriously that they begin to overshadow your own personal well-being. If you are not healthy and well, how can you expect to produce your highest quality work or learn the material you are studying? As I explained, during my freshman year I did not put my personal needs first. Ultimately, I was making it harder on myself. Even taking a day to organize your schedule and plan time for yourself is a really good idea.

2. Find a Balance- Add time into your schedule where you focus on doing something for you. Here are some suggestions: meditate, exercise or just relax. Find something that will help you to stay in a balanced routine.

3. Ask For Help – you will be able to learn something better if you ask for help. Also, if you don’t ask for help, it could prevent you from learning future concepts, especially if it is in a math or science class that builds upon previous material. It will not always be possible for you to teach yourself. Sometimes you will need the teacher to provide further explanation.

4. Use Your Resources- If you don’t know something, look it up. This seems like the obvious action to take, however sometimes we can become dependent on the teacher. We expect them to teach us every part of the material we are learning in its entirety. Learning to teach yourself is a valuable technique that you can work on in high school and use in college.

5. Focus and Take Good Notes – focusing in class is a very important part of being able to learn the material. When you fully focus and learn something the first time around it will commit to your memory and you won’t have to review as much. In addition, be sure to take good notes in class so that you can refer to them at a later time if necessary. Take notes in short hand and record the main points of the discussion or lecture. Use stars and exclamation points for the most important parts.

6. Study-studying helps you to review and practice. Review any material that you may have forgotten. Studying encompasses many things; doing your homework, practicing for tests, reviewing notes, making study guides, reviewing flash cards and any other helpful strategies. Choose what works best for you.

7. Don’t Compare Yourself To Others- Comparing yourself to others can be a waste of time and energy. It is common for students to become overly concerned with their performance in comparison to someone else. Instead I recommend you focus on doing your best and helping your classmates.

8. Get Enough Sleep – Personally I like to get at least eight hours of sleep a night. Sometimes I felt tired in class even if I got eight hours of sleep. The important thing is to get on a schedule where you go to bed at the same time every night and wake up at the same time every morning. Avoid long mid-afternoon naps and staying up late to finish homework.

9. Be Organized and Set Goals – Organization is crucial to helping yourself with your classes. Keep track of all your assignments (due dates for projects, tests, and homework). I used an agenda throughout all four years of high school to help stay organized. Set goals for when you’d like to finish your projects. Each night, set aside blocks of time to do homework for each class. Set small attainable goals inside of the larger ones.

10. Don’t Stress- Stressing and worrying will only make it harder for you to stay focused, stay on task, and ultimately perform well in school. One of the most important things to keep in mind is that there is always time to improve. Do your best and work hard, but don’t stress. Remember there is nothing to worry about.

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