High School Tips?

[John123z]

As so many others have said, keep up the grades. That stupid piece of paper means a lot. I'm 50 with an engineering degree and a lot of technical accomplishments including a few patents. You know what, whenever I apply for a new or different job they still pull out that stupid high school transcript. Even if your not interested in college, your still going to be sitting across the table from someone looking at that piece of paper for the rest of your life. I say this because I've got a few embarrassing little gems on my transcript.

Oh, and don't draw any attention to yourself until you've been there long enough to know the pecking order. You know the old saying, "the nail that sticks up, get smacked down".

John

p.s. If your interested in college, start out strong and stay strong. Most colleges only care about two things, GPA and SAT's.

 

[Tsal]

#3: GET GOOD GRADES. No, ya don't have to be a straight A student, but secure yourself a seat in college. Ya don't wanna be workin' at Mickey D's for the rest of your life.
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+1. And if you ever plan to do anything even distantly related to engineering, physics or chemistry, HS is the time to lay the foundations. Math is probably the most important subject you can have - good grades in HS mean a lot easier college courses.

+1 on the working out, meeting girls, et cetera, too.

 

[peaveyuser]

Oh join school teams if you like a certain sport, I joined the rugby team and it was one of if not the best experience I've had in HS.

 

[Bass Viking]

If anything is funny, or just cool, film/photograph it. That way you will have something to look back on in the future. There used to be an awesome video of me and my friends learning all the lessons above, which got accidentally taped over - I wish it was still in existence. I also don't have enough photos from when I was at high school.

Big +1 on this. It doesn't seem important at the time but it will later on. I didn't start taking photos until later on and I wish I had more pics from high school days. I do have some audio recordings from then and they always bring a smile to my face, if not laughter. No one had a camcorder back in the 70s, but I made sure to bring one to my 31 year HS reunion last fall.


I get a kick out of sharing old photos with friends, some of whom mentioned how great it was to see photos they'd forgotten about or didn't know existed. Thanks to the internet, Facebook, etc. these things are resurfacing.

Sorry to hear about your video being erased.

 

[Lammchop93]

Big +1 on this. It doesn't seem important at the time but it will later on. I didn't start taking photos until later on and I wish I had more pics from high school days. I do have some audio recordings from then and they always bring a smile to my face, if not laughter. No one had a camcorder back in the 70s, but I made sure to bring one to my 31 year HS reunion last fall.


I get a kick out of sharing old photos with friends, some of whom mentioned how great it was to see photos they'd forgotten about or didn't know existed. Thanks to the internet, Facebook, etc. these things are resurfacing.

Sorry to hear about your video being erased.

I would defintly do this, but sadly nowadays, cameras, phones, etc... aren't allowed. Some kids flip out, thinking we're terrorists or something. Teachers freak out.:scowl:

 

[fdeck]

+1. And if you ever plan to do anything even distantly related to engineering, physics or chemistry, HS is the time to lay the foundations. Math is probably the most important subject you can have - good grades in HS mean a lot easier college courses.

+1

Of the subjects taught in HS, math is probably the one that has the most direct consequences in terms of what careers it will allow you to pursue.

It is also the subject that "builds on itself" making it hard to catch up if you get too far behind. Plus it is absolutely a lot of fun, and I mean this sincerely.

Even if you don't love math, getting reasonably good at it in HS will make the corresponding college courses easier so they won't ultimately be a drain on your study time and GPA. And a good GPA might make or break getting into the college major that you want, even if it isn't specifically math related.

But most of all, math is a challenge, like bass playing, to keep learning more and more, but also to develop a personal style.

 

[unclejam]

if you are gonna have a food fight have it on the last day where you are in the cafeteria.

 

[MrBorisSpider]

Be yourself, even if you're discovering who that is; I mean that as in, if it doesn't feel right in your gut, don't do it. It's only four years and it doesn't matter if you're a social butterfly. It seems like the whole world ends when people don't like you, but in a couple years, they'll go away and you'll begin anew.

Don't get too caught up in the melodrama. Other people said people would be mean and superficial and two-faced, and they're right. Expect some of the best and toughest times you'll have.

 

[Lammchop93]

I turned in my classes sheet. Tell me what you think for my freshman year:

(no specific order)
1.Honors english
2.Algebra
3.Honors Biology
4.Radio & TV
5.Study Hall-1st&2nd semester
6.gym-one semester
7.career info-one semester
8.German

I have 7 classes a day. The Gym class and Career info will swap over the semester. I'm going fo the highest diploma so I have to take three years of a language. I'm really excited about the Radio TV class. I get to operate our local school radio station! I'm gonna give 'em something that that station won't forget. I'm pretty excited.


I also have Drivers ed this summer for two weeks in July, so I think I'm doing pretty well.

 

[steve21]

Change everything about yourself to be popular. Duh.

 

[MakiSupaStar]

wear a jimmy. I forgot that in my original post I think.

 

[IconBasser]

I turned in my classes sheet. Tell me what you think for my freshman year:

(no specific order)
1.Honors english
2.Algebra
3.Honors Biology
4.Radio & TV
5.Study Hall-1st&2nd semester
6.gym-one semester
7.career info-one semester
8.German

I have 7 classes a day. The Gym class and Career info will swap over the semester. I'm going fo the highest diploma so I have to take three years of a language. I'm really excited about the Radio TV class. I get to operate our local school radio station! I'm gonna give 'em something that that station won't forget. I'm pretty excited.


I also have Drivers ed this summer for two weeks in July, so I think I'm doing pretty well.

hm... looks ok to me. I took the same core classes as you are my freshman year.

just my advice, but you really needn't bother taking 3 years of a foreign language. Inordinate waste of time.

and... I don't see jazz band on that list. What's a matter witchoo?

 

[EADG mx]

Oh man my buddy just had a pregnancy scare the other day, it was very scary stuff...

You want to talk scary? I've had a friend who's had an AIDS scare.

Suddenly pregnancy isn't so bad.

 

[Visirale]

just my advice, but you really needn't bother taking 3 years of a foreign language. Inordinate waste of time.

I disagree. It's been very useful to me. I took 4 years in high school and 3 semesters in middle school. You don't fully appreciate it until you use it in the country it's spoken in. I took Spanish, and when I visited Costa Rica the summer before my junior year I was able to converse with all the locals and carry on conversations... order for myself without feeling like an inconsiderate tourist expecting them to know English.

Now I'm trying to learn French and maybe Dutch at some point. Language is a powerful tool. Yeah, a lot of people are learning English, but foreign language study is so much more than just speaking it. You can understand their culture better and it opens up whole new bodies of literature. Being able to read Garcia Lorca's "Blood Wedding" in its original text and not a translation (translation loses SO much) was helpful for me in my senior year when it came up in class. Now I'm learning French because I love that culture and Impressionistic art and music.

Sorry for the rant... don't discredit any one academic pursuit. They're all beautiful in their own ways and have their own merits and drags.

 

[BlackLake]

Don't bend over to pick up the soap...

Oh wait, that's a prison tip.

Nevermind.

 

[LiquidMidnight]

My junior high was in the same building as my senior high, so the transition really wasn't any big deal.

My biggest piece of advice - or I suppose it's a piece of wisdom more than advice - is that the only people who refer to your high school years as the "best times of your life" are jocks and prom queens who never accomplished much in their lives. Take it from someone who's been in the real world, graduated college, and is anticipating the exciting world of graduate school: Do your time, so to speak, get some tangible accomplishments, and then go on to much bigger and better things. I was someone who was completely miserable in high school. I consider myself to be a pretty happy person in life now. A friend and I went to the local bar two years ago. All of the people who were "cool" in high school or treated me badly were sad individuals. They all remembered whom I was; ironically, they all wanted to know if I remembered whom they were.

I'm not trying to paint high school as a crap time; I have some good memories. But as someone said earlier, it's not all that it's cracked up to be.

 

[Visirale]

My junior high was in the same building as my senior high, so the transition really wasn't any big deal.

My biggest piece of advice - or I suppose it's a piece of wisdom more than advice - is that the only people who refer to your high school years as the "best times of your life" are jocks and prom queens who never accomplished much in their lives. Take it from someone who's been in the real world, graduated college, and is anticipating the exciting world of graduate school: Do your time, so to speak, get some tangible accomplishments, and then go on to much bigger and better things. I was someone who was completely miserable in high school. I consider myself to be a pretty happy person in life now. A friend and I went to the local bar two years ago. All of the people who were "cool" in high school or treated me badly were sad individuals. They all remembered whom I was; ironically, they all wanted to know if I remembered whom they were.

I'm not trying to paint high school as a crap time; I have some good memories. But as someone said earlier, it's not all that it's cracked up to be.

I know I can't speak fully on this matter since I'm 19 and just finished my freshman year of college, but why can't one have a great time in HS and other ventures beyond? My mom had a great time in HS, and was busy throughout college and grad school (to the PHD level). She didn't really have a lot of fun again until she got her real job. HS is a unique time in your life where your parents still support you and you have enough time to pursue things you want. I was by no means a social butterfly in high school, but I had some fabulous times.

College is fun, but you have a lot more financial responsibilities to worry about. Your friends start picking up some more serious problems than the usual HS drama. The ominous reality of the "real world" is always looming and it isn't the most inspiring image all the time.

Definitely not trying to second guess you, but HS can be a great time, jock/social butterfly/or not. It's just a time of self discovery, falling into a niche, and experimentation.

 

[Lammchop93]

hm... looks ok to me. I took the same core classes as you are my freshman year.

just my advice, but you really needn't bother taking 3 years of a foreign language. Inordinate waste of time.

and... I don't see jazz band on that list. What's a matter witchoo?

Well, I'm going for the highest diploma, so I have to take 3 years of a language if I want that diploma. I'm not in jazz band becuase you would have had to take jazz band in middle school, and they wouldn't let me play bass because the instuctors son was a bassist and he got the part. I'm taking a couple music classes down into my juior and senior year. They were only available for those years.

 

[Drifta]

hm... looks ok to me. I took the same core classes as you are my freshman year.

just my advice, but you really needn't bother taking 3 years of a foreign language. Inordinate waste of time.

and... I don't see jazz band on that list. What's a matter witchoo?

How is learning another language a waste of time?


Language classes are some of the best chances to actually LEARN something in hs.

 

[firebirdphil]

Don't do what I did and piss away your freshman year trying to party with juniors and seniors. If I hadn't done that then I would've graduated with a 4.0 probably.