I'd tell the eleven year old me "accept the offers from those frickin' private schools and grammar schools instead of accepting the offer from the comprehensive just because it was within walking distance".novixz said:
Let's see, on my first day a guy was stabbed in the stairwell. By the end of my first month another guy had been savagely beaten with a barbell out in the yard. Things quietened down for the next two years (bar the gang fights, but that's just London). Then some twattish little gangsters from my school murdered some gangster from another school and a shit-tonne of gangsters from their school came charging into ours attempting a revenge killing. Luckily the riot vans got there just in time. A few weeks later one kid called another's mother 'gay' and so the aggrieved forced his head into a tower driver drill, I managed to get him over to the school's nurse but he was leaking a buttload of blood and he had to go to hospital.novixz said:
Yeah, I'd tell my 11 year old self to stay the fuck away from inner-city comprehensive school. But I'm sure things are a lot less violent where you are, given your level of literacy at your age. So some advice to my old self that might actually apply to you is:
1) Be very careful of who you make friends with and the reputation you try to maintain. Being one of the popular kids loses its appeal after the first year, but you get stuck in that role for much longer and find that you have to be less and less yourself to keep it going. Make sure you're making friends with people because you like those people and not because you aspire to be seen to be like those people; maintaining a fake persona is very wearing and means you're not going to make any friends that you'll keep beyond high school.
2) Start looking at the job market right now. It's a lovely idea to be able to think you're going to make it as an actor etc, but you'll almost certainly change your mind within a few years and if you've forsaken everything else for that goal then you're not left with a lot of options. Look at some practical decent jobs that sound interesting and look for what they require. You'll find most (at least in the UK) non-specific higher wage jobs, like retail management/buying, require a non-specific degree; just make sure you keep your grades high enough to get a decent degree from a top-half university, but don't specifically aim for the top of the top colleges unless you've got some really specific reason to do so. Stressing out about getting the very highest grades possible when it's not really necessary for 99% of degree courses isn't going to make life fun, but nor will falling so low in your grades that you've got no fallback; try to stay somewhere in between super high GPA and low GPA unless the former comes naturally to you.
3) Be courteous to members of staff, but realise that you don't need them to love you in order for you to succeed because, at the end of the day, they won't be marking your final exams. If you feel that you've been legitimately victimised or aggrieved over some matter then calmly and politely address the offending member of staff over the issue.
4) Really try to focus on your classes as they're being given with an eye to whether or not they suit your interests for later life. I can't tell you how annoyed with myself I am that I didn't pay any attention in science classes and had to wait until I was finished with high school to figure out that I love science.
5) Most importantly, and most importantly throughout life, don't get too stressed out. Try to be easy going with other people, try not to start fights or initiate rivalries; if someone's getting under your skin then try to avoid them rather than duke it out with them and pursue the legitimate courses of action if you think they're bullying you etc. Try to calmly approach subjects you don't gel with and approach the teacher to voice problems with the subject. It's amazing how often teachers are willing to give up their free time or bits of advice to help you if you need it. Basically, try get along with others, use their skills to your advantage and learn from their advice (or their mistakes!).
If you've got any questions about anything you might face then I'd be happy to give my perspective, but the US and UK education systems differ greatly.
