- You do NOT need new things upon entering high school, no matter how crazy you are about stationery
- During my freshman year at Creek, I came way too over-prepared for everything and it was definitely not cheap to get brand new things for high school. It was such a waste of money and bad for the environment to throw out perfectly good equipment (notebooks, pencils, pens, etc.)
- Don’t throw your grades away while having fun
- Making friends, attending events, sports, relationships, etc are really important. You know what else is important? Your grades!!!! Especially if you have a specific goal on what you want to do after graduation, you have to stick to your grades. They’re also important if you want to do sports, so don’t neglect them too regularly.
- Don’t let the education system and high standards change your self-worth
- I used to be so hung up over every little point and every little test score or letter grade. But now that I grew out of that phase, I realized that literally none of that defines who I am. I’m not going to put “I got an A on my essay in junior year” ANYWHERE that matters, like my resume or my IG bio. It literally doesn’t matter. Your grades are not what you are made of.
- Attend events, join clubs, and be social
- It’s simple. Being social is the best way to make friends and having good friends is important at any given time in life. They might not stay with you after high school, but it’s good to have people you can rely on when you’re having a rough patch in school.
- Who you started dating in high school is almost guaranteed to not stay with you forever
- Change is inevitable, especially within people. I learned that as you progress throughout your high school years, you and your significant other WILL outgrow each other. You will have different values, different goals, and different mindsets by the time you graduate. But if you have a high school sweetheart, congrats!
- Self care is especially important during these four years
- For like half of the high school years, we barely got out of the puberty phase and we’re starting to think properly and see the world in a different perspective. And some of the things we see might not be the best. That’s when you need to learn to take care of yourself well and pick yourself up. Buy a diary to vent out at, or pamper yourself from time to time to feel relaxed and more at ease so you don’t have to go through so much at an early age.
- Invest your time in an extracurricular activity that you really enjoy and stick with it
- I really wish I did this earlier, because it’s so helpful in terms of setting a goal for yourself. I started a YouTube channel and that helped me realize that I might want to continue singing after high school, and that I don’t really need to go to college at all if I want to become a singer. Point is, if you already have something you already love to do, it saves you the trouble of thinking about what you want to do after you graduate.
- Get a job as soon as possible
- Self explanatory. This is when you want to start to stop using your parents’ money.
- Never, EVER pick the late schedule
- I had a late schedule freshman year, and it was awful. I had to be in my 7th period while everyone else was already out of school and were going to get food or going home without me, and they had to text me all the time in class. Waking up earlier is not as hard as you imagine it is and that hour between 6th and 7th period is god-sent.
- Cherish the four years now, so you don’t have to look back later
- Now that I’m graduating, I’ve looked back on all the memories I’ve made during my time at Creek. From now until graduation, I’ll remember them fondly and then leave it all behind by the time my ceremony ends. Why? Because I don’t want all my best memories to be in high school. I’m moving on to a new chapter of my life and I want this new chapter to be where I’m at my prime, not in my teenage years. Again, change is inevitable and it’ll always be positive if we look at it in a positive light.
Categories: Class of 2021, Seniors Reflect
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