A Guide for High School
In high school you meet lots of new people, and the best thing you can do is befriend a lot of people. You don’t necessarily need to be best friends but creating that relationship can help you and benefit you in many ways. Friends come and go, especially during your high school years. You’ll fall out with people you consider your “friends.” Whatever the case is, it’s a part of your high school journey. Sometimes things don’t work out and that's okay.
Now that we are closing out the year, we wanted to take a look back on everything we have been through these past 4 years; Friendships, relationships, situationships, and more. As we embark on our new journey, we would like to leave you all some tips and things we wished we knew earlier.
As much as you do hear it, freshman year is probably one of your most important school years. However, life doesn’t end when you don’t get that grade you had hoped for. There’s plenty of resources and opportunities available so that you can improve. And with that being said, that’s also something I’d like to emphasize. Take advantage of every internship and program CSH has to offer. Even if you think you may not like it. You’ll never know where you’ll end up and it’s better to have a back up plan than to have a plan to fail.
In high school you meet lots of new people, and the best thing you can do is befriend a lot of people. You don’t necessarily need to be best friends but creating that relationship can help you and benefit you in many ways. Friends come and go, especially during your high school years. You’ll fall out with people you consider your “friends.” Whatever the case is, it’s a part of your high school journey. Sometimes things don’t work out and that's okay.
Relationships. High school relationships are tedious, a distraction and oftentimes not needed. If you struggle with making good decisions, like whether or not you feel like you're doing homework, you most definitely should not be in a relationship. It’s a time consuming situation that typically distracts you from your goal. However, if you choose to be in a relationship, be careful sexually of course, privacy is also important. Your friends don’t need to know every minute detail about what goes on between you and your partner. Last but not least, this person isn’t the love of your life. High school is four years, and it’s extremely important to make connections with everyone because you'll never know what could happen. You’re most likely not going to be with your 10th grade boyfriend in college, especially if these colleges are states away. It’s not the end of the world, though it may feel like it. But remember you’re only in the first half of life which is adolescence.
One thing I can’t stress enough is to break out of your bad habits as soon as you can. Building healthy habits is crucial to your success not only in school but in life. Stop procrastinating because it’s “how you work best,” get your work done in a timely manner so you don't have to carry the stress of missing assignments. Personally I can tell you this will eventually catch up to you and you’ll be overwhelmed with so much work that you’ll lose all motivation. After this it's hard to get your grades back to where you want them to be because you are so behind on everything.
Another big important thing is your mental health. School can be stressful and you want to avoid burning yourself out. Instead, once you feel you’re becoming overwhelmed, take a self care day. “Self care is the best care,” it’s important to put your needs first and make sure YOU are okay before continuing with any excessive work. Self care isn't a set list of things, it can look like anything, whatever caters to your needs best. It’s okay to take a day off when you truly need it.
While I thought these tips were obvious, unfortunately they aren’t. Girls, please stop fighting over dumb crap, like boys and what was said on social media. It’s not cute, and it makes you look bad. The stuff that you’re fighting about gets you absolutely nowhere. You don’t get cool points for acting barbaric. Boys, you’re not gang affiliated, you have a student metro card, a roof over your head, and parents that feed you, put clothes on your back, and pay your phone bill. Pull up your pants and take off that ridiculous ninja turtle mask. We also have enough rappers, so let your dream of music go — we need more engineers, technicians, and more. Overall here’s your wake up call. Remember that partaking in any of these activities I just mentioned nowadays can easily be the difference between you dying or living to see another day.
Here's what some of our current seniors had to say:
“Choose your relationships carefully,” Tae-Vaughn tells me, he goes on to say that the people in your circle are important and should be chosen wisely.
Fathima says that “Opportunities are endless, this school offers many opportunities and I wished I would’ve put in more effort because I know I could’ve gone farther.” Fatima talked about how she wished she would’ve put in more effort as she now knows she had the potential to go even farther.
Destiny says to “select APs wisely because I took so many, the heavy workload gave me anxiety.” Destiny spoke about the stress that taking so many AP classes caused her and to prioritize the classes you want to take that will benefit your career.
“Time management and communication are important; tell teachers when you’re struggling,” David says. He and Sam both agreed that communication is key, communicate to your teachers about extensions or if you are struggling. After all, they are here to help YOU.
“Do that work, don't procrastinate, it's killer.” Adyel mentions how harmful procrastination is and how hard it is to break out of it if you don’t start early.
Laila says “Don't take life too seriously enjoy life more.” Laila shares she wishes she enjoyed her high school years more and advises all to enjoy it while they can.
“Talk to people, open up to others,” Jasmine says, as she has only recently begun to open up to more people and she regrets not doing so earlier.
“Stop wasting money on food. There’s food at home.” Arnel advises everyone to save their money and not spend it all on outside food.
“Do more internships.” Chris V. tells everyone to take advantage of the opportunities the school provides you with and do as many internships as you can, as networking is super important.