Tomorrow I start high school.

[Birdman1604]

I started highschool a month and a half before I turned 13. The only problem when I started was that I was unpracticed in using the lock on my locker (didnt have them in grade school). I remember being late to class a few times because I spent the whole transition time wrestling with my lock. I only once got in trouble... I had to spend an hour in detention because I dared to play some minesweeper after I had finished my work in some simple computer class (back when computers were mysterious and they'd spend a week teaching us to make a spreadsheet).
Other than that it was just boring. I coasted through all 4 years of "the smart classes" with something like a 2.8 GPA and zero effort spent. I would have taken the dumb classes so I could coast along with much higher grades but that would mean spending time amongst the idiotic assholes that mostly populated my small town.

I do regret not putting in a little effort and getting decent grades though. I was just lazy, and still am I guess. Also, I kind of wish I had stuck with the french classe since being able to speak in both english and french can open a few doors for you in Canada.

 

[gphjr14]

As someone else already stated don't take it too seriously. Take college prep courses and have an idea of what you wanna do after highschool. I made mostly B's and C's and just graduated from college in May and still have no clue what I wanna do. Enjoy your youth make responsible decisions and you'll do fine.

 

[coolkirb]

SIm surprised at some of the horror stories, but then again I was never bullied, maybe catholic schools in southern Ontario are slightly different from those in America. Oh also dont say "this class sucks so im not going to try" its much better for yourself and your reputation to make a half decent attempt in everyclass, I hated Pshycology because it was mostly about human development I.e. babies, diseases sciency stuff like that but I still tried, and got an 86, and even in my worst class ever grade 9 french I made a good attempt and the teacher realised that and thus still liked me even though I only got a 58 in the class. that actually brings up a side note if you show up for class everyday, do your homework and assignment with an honest attempt no teacher will fail you so dont start wars you cant win with the staff.

 

[J4RD]

Now, I'd recommend doing your best the whole way through, but as long as you get a 3.5-4.0 GPA your Junior and Senior years, you can relax a bit during your first two. Just a bit. Or so I've been told.

Also, do something extra-curricular. Colleges love that stuff.

 

[DarthFennec]

High school was really hard for me ... but I guess if you're smart you won't be in International Baccalaureate like I was, so in that case it should be pretty easy.

Just attend all your classes and do all the work and make sure you turn it all in on time. Even if it's not all done perfectly that should keep you above a 3.5.

Oh, and make sure you have friends and go to parties and all that shit. It's hell otherwise. It's hell anyway but it's much less hell if you have some fun.

I took the IB. I didn't get the diploma due to me being terrible at essays, but nonetheless I got an unconditional acceptance into university Now I start university in 19 days, hopefully it will be easy. I'm inclined to believe so because I was the only one to know what Pyongyang was when a professor asked what the capital of North Korea was -.-

OT: I can't quite remember my first days at high school. What I remember is my first two years were more or less terrible, but my last two years were great. Just hang with a crowd that you identify with and things should be fine. Just don't be too hard on yourself and party. Seriously, that was what I did wrong during my first two years. It didn't really affect my grades either way due to me being a bad student anyways.

University is really easy compared to IB, or it is for me at least. I've done two semesters of university, and I blew through them both, I think like 3.8ish gpa (in IB I ended up with maybe a 1.9 or a 2.1, something like that, I don't really remember anymore). But in IB I was bogged down with multiple essays and about eight giant assignments at any given time, and now I get maybe four essays all semester and maybe two or three other assignments per week. I'm really getting a lot of downtime, and it's great. The big problem is, the university I chose has no idea what IB even is, so it makes no difference that I was even in that program in the first place ... I didn't get the full diploma, but I got a couple certificates and I still can't get any credit for those -.-

 

[Draitheryn]

Not sure where you're from(sounds like USA), but depending on the country its different. I lived in 3 different countries during highschool, USA, Canada and Ireland. If you're European or Canadian, then it's pretty easy, if you're American, it's a joke and unless you have a mental disability there's no excuse for not getting straight A's

 

[LooK iTz Jinjo]

The key is to set your goals low and not care therefore you can never be disappointed and can only succeed. Shoot for the stars and you'll mostly likely miss and hit the moon. Then you've shot the moon out of the sky and fucked up everything you dumb shit. Spend your spare time drinking, smoking marijuana and playing video games, have lots of sex and prepare yourself for a long career at McDonalds.

 

[Alrocsmash]

Guide to America highschool:

Smoke a bunch of weed.

Buy and provide a bunch of booze for friends.

Have as much sex as possible.

What you learn is 100% pointless. Just get the grades for university.

Many will ***** at my typing. They are virgins, and at the end of the day, no one cares. Stamp a good memory.

 

[lachcal]

You'll get used to it.

 

[headbanger97]

Just remember that all of the douche bags that give you a hard time in high school are going to grow up to realize their life sucks because back in high school they burned all of their bridges. Once you learn that your less likely to care what people say. Also don't run for student body. Despite what they tell you no one is going to care that you were sophomore VP. Have a diverse group of friends from all cliques so you can easily escape clique drama when one starts falling apart. Have fun and remember that it's only cheating if you get caught xD

 

[TonyVonTonyus]

Guide to America highschool:

Smoke a bunch of weed.

Buy and provide a bunch of booze for friends.

Have as much sex as possible.

What you learn is 100% pointless. Just get the grades for university.

Many will ***** at my typing. They are virgins, and at the end of the day, no one cares. Stamp a good memory.

Does that only apply to America because that's described my highschool experience up until now.

 

[Furioso]

It gets tough but its fairly overrated, any and all drama outside of the obvious such as death etc, is pointless, if you are worried about the bad effects of drugs/alcohol don't do them, I never did and as such never had to worry about the consequences, not that I am judging anyone else, it just worked for me

But most important of all, do something, I never did anything, never joined anything, never put myself out there, and that's what I got out of it, nothing, just don't be an idiot about it

 

[Nickompoop]

Getting straight A's is easy if you don't do any Honor's or AP classes. However, I recommend doing the advanced classes because most of the people in those classes are smart and you usually avoid that one idiot who thinks he's the best thing since sliced bread.

Oh, and the cliques suck. Be open and accepting to everyone because very few other people will be. If there's a new kid your class, talk to him. You'll make his high school experience much better.

Don't worry about what other people may say about you because you're a nerd/geek. If you can ignore them, then high school will be much easier for you. If you can't, just remind yourself that chances are you'll be their boss someday.

Join the Chess Club.

 

[Glerken]

It's incredibly easy, and a lot of fun.

Take the easiest and fewest number of classes you can, ditch them whenever possible.
Don't think you're a loser, don't act like a dick.
Stand up for yourself, get in fights if you have too, but don't go looking for them.
Don't be awkward.
Do whatever you want, your under 18, the worst that will happen is you get suspended.
Don't think you're cool for doing whatever you want.
Stay away from Bros (Wears Tapout, Affliction, or Ed Hardy? Talks about how high they got and how much they love weed? Ignore them, laugh at them)
Be respectful to the teachers, act like an adult and you get treated like an adult.

Fuck your grade point average, just make it good enough to get into a university if that's what you're looking to do. If you're smart enough your SAT or ACT score will pretty much guarantee you getting accepted.

Once you turn 18 and go to college, take your studies more seriously. Find out what your passionate about, and learn as much as you can about it. Don't stress about your classes, don't let them take over your personal life. College is even more fun than high school.

 

[thefrizzlefry]

First of all, OP, allow me to offer my sincere condolences; I'm about to start my senior year, and I would not trade places with you under any circumstances. As far as advice goes... Uhh.... I dunno, do your homework? Work on finding friends outside of school? That's basically all I got, so good luck.

 

[AJvsRonin]

Your friends will change, you'll make new friends, nothing in high school matters afterwards.
You won't become good looking until 18 some not until after college, if you become good looking prior to that then more then likely parts of you will begin to grow disproportional to the rest of you and you become ugly again.

Dont trust adults, if they tell you they think you are smart and mature. It's only because the way you think is similar to their personal world view. It's merely their way of reaffirming their beliefs.

Don't trust your teachers for advice, more than likely they ended up as a teacher because they couldn't cut it in the real world. By that I mean go and ask your science teacher if they've ever had their research published. Unless its a high class school the answer will be no. If you've never been published then the scientific community doesn't consider you to be an expert on anything and even if you are published that doesn't mean much. That's just my opinion as a young science post grad who has been published (also the opinion of my professors).

While its impossible to know what your career goals will be don't get distracted by something irrelevant. I got distracted by sports and that fucked me up in college.


Don't do this now but do it some point it high school, maybe half way through:

Go onto job posting websites. Here in Australia seek.com.au is a good one. Look up different careers you'd like to have. Are there any positions for marine biologists to work with dolphins? No? Then don't go and try and turn it into a career, it just won't happen (statistically speaking). Perhaps look into environmental science (similar college subjects) lots of jobs? Then that might be a good way to go. If you choose a pretty broad subject area you can specialize later, just always remember to not just follow your interest, but ask what industry's can offer you a good future.

As far as studying goes, at your age I'm not kidding when I say that you can do anything. Usually this is repeated ad nauseum by teachers who never really understand what it means. You are still soft clay. You must realize you know nothing, and neither do the people around you. Look to read non fiction by people in the industy you are interested in. eg:

Like science or journalism? Then read Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan (its about both). In fact anything by Carl Sagan is great.

Biology? anything by Steven Jay Gould or Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins

Medicine? Read Steven Novellas blog (NeuroLogica)

Anthropology? Collapse by Jared Diamond.

Learn Learn Learn. You cant go wrong.

Note: I obviously have a science bias as that is my industry of choice. If you are interested in doing science and want some advice on how to figure out a career I'd be happy to pass on knowledge I wish I'd had earlier. Just send me an email.

 

[Atticus89]

Be nice to folks and hope they do the same in return. People will remember the nice guy.

Have a group of friends you like to hang out with. Whether you're the wallflower or the social butterfly, friends are always a must.

You're not alone. There will be people in the same boat as you. You might be lucky and find somebody who is an upperclassman and they'll help you out.

Know the layout of your school well. Back when I was in high school we only had five minutes to get between classes and if you were late you were sent to this one classroom where all the tardy kids went (it was great to avoid class without being truant, so there's something the teachers didn't think of and probably still don't).

And above all, enjoy it as much as you can. High school is the last time of your life where you can be completely stupid but not have the "responsibility" that college students and adults need for their actions.

 

[Ungenericteen]

Do sports or clubs not just in school but outside of it to if you do nothing then it sucks and if I could tell myself from a year ago anything it would be "push him when you have the chance, you'll know who I'm talking about"

 

[ChickenZombie]

High school is overrated. Bunch of assholes experimenting to prove their manhood and a bunch of easy girls. I don't get along in high school, but thats because i have different interests then the "General Population"

 

[itsausernamewhatofit]

Have someone draw you a map. I got lost so much my first week and tardiness doesn't look good. You only get one first impression