Senior Advice for Freshies!
Dear Freshmen,
Congratulations, you’ve officially made it through the first year of high school. Now, no one can call you “freshie” ever again! Despite the relief that may provide, I’m sure you still have lots of questions about what to expect for the next 3 years. I’ll preface this by saying ultimately you’re going to be fine; please don’t stress about it because if high school is the best 4 years of your life then you’re going about this whole “living” thing all wrong. The biggest piece of advice I’m going to give you is: Know when to say no.
I’m not talking about the substances and ~experiences~ that your parents and teachers are telling you to avoid. Frankly, I don’t care what you do in that department. (The Eagle’s Eye does not condone the use of illicit substances.) I’m talking about the things that your parents and teachers, and even peers, are probably pressuring you to do. For instance, taking 10 AP classes in high school. DON’T DO THAT. Sure, it all depends on what you can handle, and yes, you can handle anything; you don’t need to listen to people who have already made the mistakes you are bound to make on your own. But if by some off chance this little article in this issue of this newspaper has any effect on you, listen to that intuition AKA me.
You don’t need to take at least 4 AP classes a year and get that Capstone whatever diploma thingie and also be the president of a club and be on student council. Enloe is an academic pressure cooker, but the most important thing it’ll ever teach you is that it’s all about balance. It’s about working smarter, not harder. Pick a couple of extracurriculars that you are truly passionate about, not just things that look nice on a resume. Trust me, you’re still going to get into college and it’ll be way easier to participate in things that you actually enjoy.
I’m going to emphasize BALANCE again because I know that there is another side to this coin. Don’t stress yourself out, but don’t completely fall off the academic plane altogether. I know half of you freshies think that you have senioritis, and you probably do have some form of lack of motivation, but I promise that the real thing is much more debilitating. There is no real way to combat this except for own up to it and just power through. Don’t be a wuss; do your homework.
Moving on to the Q&A section of this article, our first question is: How can you tell who your fake friends are versus your real ones? The tea is that you’re probably going to end up finding your real homies by the time you are all dispersing to different colleges across the country in your senior year when it’s pretty much too late. But don’t worry, that true friend circle will begin to build during sophomore year because that’s when everyone usually shows their true colors and the snakes are exposed!!!!! It’s a well known fact that the people you enter high school with will not be the people you leave with, and my little freshman self was sure that me and my friends were different (we weren’t) because our bond was stronger (it wasn’t). What people don’t tell you is that you’re not going to be mad about it because ultimately all of those friendships you lose will happen naturally as all of you grow as individuals.
Next question: What is, objectively, the best year of high school? The Eagle’s Eye had a bit of a disagreement over this, so I’m going to say that the best years are going to be either sophomore year or senior year, depending on who you ask. Sophomore year, you’re no longer a freshman and that’s AWESOME and you also don’t have the pressure of junior year yet. No standardized tests or college applications? Live it up! Go crazy! Ahh! Go stupid! Ahh! Senior year, yeah college applications are hard and really stressful but after that’s all over it’s pretty much smooth sailing until graduation. Again, go crazy! Ahh! Go stupid! Ahhhhhhhhh!!!
And for our final question: What can you do to get the most out of high school? First of all, definitely get involved in sports or clubs if you haven’t already. It’s a great way to hang out with friends from school and also do things your passionate about. Second, join newspaper! I have absolutely no bias when I say that the best people at Enloe end up in this class. Third, make sure to troll a couple of freshman next year! It’s part of the experience. “There IS a pool on the third floor of the east building! It’s right next to the trophy cases, you can’t miss it.”
To sum up, you are more than your GPA or the score that you got on your SAT. You’re going to get into college, and if it’s not your dream school than don’t worry, because it’s not WHERE you get your degree, but WHAT you choose to do with it. You’re going to lose some friends and gain some others. Try to enjoy every year despite the varying degrees of obligations. And always remember, high school? It ain’t that deep.
