School starts one week from today for many kids in my area. I don't start college for 3 more weeks. But I figured, since it's almost time for high school to start back up, I might as well educate some people with what I learned in high school, and what a lot of you should learn too. And I don't mean things like "mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell" or "in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue." I mean more important things. Also some advice for freshman and sophomores with a few more years to go.
1. Join a club or a group of some sort. In my sophomore year, I was part of the choir. However, I never felt a great connection to the other kids in choir and didn't have a whole lot of pride about it. The next year, I joined tech and drama. Now, I'm not here to tell everyone to join drama, because it's not for everyone, but being part of the theatre program was a HUGE thing for me. In fact, most of the things on this list are things I learned from being involved with theatre. Joining a group or a club not only gives you something fun to do, but it also gives you a huge sense of school spirit. I know when I was a sophomore, my thoughts were "yeah, okay, I go to this school, big deal." But when I was competing with theatre and being part of the best dadgum theatre program in the whole state of Alabama, I was so proud of all of us. Sports will obviously do that too. Having school spirit and being part of something special makes those four years a lot more fun. It also can introduce you to people you never expected to befriend and hobbies you never thought you'd enjoy.
2. No one actually cares what you look like. I remember when I was too self-conscious to go to school without makeup on. I have dark circles under my eyes and I almost always had breakouts that I felt the need to cover up. If I went to school without hiding these things, I would feel self-conscious about it all day. But I learned that no one really cares. Everyone else is worried about what they look like themselves. We're all teenagers going through the same general problems. We all have acne, most of us don't get enough sleep, and you don't need to be paranoid all day because you have a zit on your nose that you didn't manage to cover up with makeup because you woke up late. Sure, some people will notice it, but if they're decent human beings, they probably won't say anything about it. And if they do, just say "Yeah, I know, I have two eyes and know how to use a mirror" and go on with your day! But don't ever do the same to them. That's just fighting fire with fire, and while bonfires are fun, they're not so fun when they set the yard aflame and hurt people. Don't be afraid to go out without makeup on. Stand up straight, put on a smile and be confident. Makeup is fun, but it shouldn't become an essential like brushing your teeth.
3. Make new friends! Whenever I had a class without any of my friends, my mom would say "Well you can make some new friends!" and I never listened to her because I kind of dislike humans in general and I'm an introvert and I'm kind of shy. And while it is hard to make new friends, it's not impossible. Even if you don't become BFF's, it's great to have at least one person in your class that you can contact if you miss anything or have questions about homework. And if the power goes out and you happen to be stuck in that class for two hours, you'd at least want someone to talk to (yes this happened before and it was awful because I knew no one and the teacher was making terrorist jokes). I remember on graduation day when everyone was being nice to each other and acting like friends even if they'd never spoken before. The cliques had dispersed and we were all one big class of 2014. I feel like that's how it should have been throughout all four years. Don't avoid making friends with someone who isn't in your clique. It's kind of like eating. Say you have a plate with different foods on it; you have your meat, your veggies, and some fruit, but none of them touch because you're picky. After you eat it all, it all ends up in the same place. So you're the high school, and the food is all the students. We all end up in the same place, so we shouldn't be afraid to mix and mingle and put ranch on our pizza and honey in our yogurt.
4. Always respect your teachers. Always. Always always always. Even if they're being mean because they're having a bad day. Especially then. Teachers work for hours putting up with misbehaving students, grading, the students being too loud or not paying attention, and tons of other things, only to be payed not NEARLY as much as they deserve. They are educating the future of our country, of our world, and some of them have to keep a second job to pay for their expenses. And then some kids think that they can just blabber all day and talk back and be absolutely awful to their teachers. To people who disrespect teachers: You suck. You stress me out. Check your privilege. Put yourself in their shoes. How would you react to a kid younger than you back talking you when you tell them to do something? The teacher didn't GIVE you that grade, you EARNED that grade depending on how hard you worked for it, so don't complain. This topic makes me angry. Basically, respect your teachers and don't give them a hard time, because someday you might need just one more person to write down as a referral for a job application, and they won't let you write down their name because of that one time.
5. Learn. Learn what you love. Learn what you hate. Learn about yourself. Never stop trying to learn more. You may be in a math class, absolutely hating the subject, but you can learn more than just math in a math class, more than just vocabulary in an English class, and more than just the order of the presidents in a history class. You can learn what you get excited about and what you dread, and how you handle stress and how to organize things. Learn what you love and apply that to every other class you're required to take. I read in a psychology magazine once that happy people enjoy their jobs more because, even if they're not working in the field they love, they've discovered how to apply their passion to their everyday job.
To the seniors: One more year. You're almost there. And yes, it really does fly by. Once prom shows up, you'll be wondering when the heck that happened because it felt like just yesterday was homecoming. And please do go to prom. Even if you don't have a date, even if you can't dance, grab your best friend and dance like idiots. Dont worry about what other people think. Don't you dare sit in the corner and watch. You'll regret it. Really take in the whole year. Remember your lasts and treasure them. Take lots of pictures. And as much as everyone wants to, avoid talking or thinking about college as much as possible. Don't sit at the lunch table and talk about college. Live for right now, for today. Tomorrow will come soon enough.
This is one of my favorite posts. I'm very proud of you. Hugs. Love, Mom
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