1. It’s not going to be the best four years of your life.
Sure, high school is great; great friends, great memories, but not the best four years of your life, so don’t go into it with these grand expectations. If someone is here telling you they will be, ignore them, they’re doing life wrong.
2. If you’re a freshman, know everyone else will probably hate you.
It has nothing to do with you personally, it’s just the fact you’re dumb freshmen that don’t know what side of the stairs to walk up. Trust me, your sophomore year you’ll be complaining about the dumb freshmen.
3. Don’t act like you’re too “cool” for school events, go to them.
If there’s a basketball game, go. If there’s a school dance, go. If there’s a pep rally, go. Trust me, high school goes by in a blink of an eye; before you know it it’ll be over and you’ll regret not doing anything while you had the chance.
4. Don’t sweat about the small stuff.
Tripped down the stairs? Spilled your food on you at lunch? Tripped up the stairs? Give a wrong answer in class? Dropped all your books? Don’t stress about it. Yeah, there will be some people chuckling, but chances are they’ll forget about it by next period. High school is waaay too short to worry about that dumb guy who laughed because you fell.
5. LADIES, THIS ONE IS FOR YOU!
High school boys are dumb, extremely dumb. Don’t waste your time worrying about if he’ll notice you or if he’s going to ask you to the dance. You do you and let him come to you, and when he does, please, please, please be careful. He may claim to love you (and he might even), but I’m sure most guys will tell you that in high school they only had one thing in mind, and it wasn’t love. Have fun, but be careful.
6. Keep the bigger picture in mind.
Yes, that Thursday night party might be enticing, but remember there is life after high school, and for those of you who want to go on to college you’ve got to stay on top of your grades. Also, be smart. I’m not going to act like drinking in high school isn’t a thing, so just be smart. Cops have low tolerance for underage drinking, they don’t care if it’s your first time drinking or if you only had two sips; the smallest mistake can stay with you for the rest of your life.
7. It's not a popularity contest.
Yes, it is important to have friends in high school, but be friends with them because you like being around them, not because they make your popularity status go up. Four to five years from now when you're applying for a job you can't put "I was popular" on your application because it won'tmatter. So don't waste your time trying to become part of the "in crowd".
8. Be nice to everyone.
You have no clue what someone you’re passing in the hall may be going through, so a simple smile or a wave might be the highlight of their day. Also, if someone drops their books in the hallway, help them pick them up instead of walking over them, it’s just common courtesy.
9. Don’t gossip.
Don’t gossip. Don’t spread rumors. Don’t participate in it. Being on both ends of it, I can honestly tell you it sucks, and 99.9 percent of the time the rumor isn’t even true.
10. FRESHMAN YEAR GRADES MATTER!
Listen to your parents when they tell you this, I didn’t and I spent the rest of high school busting my butt to raise my GPA from my freshman year mess up. Freshman year is the easiest, get the A’s while you can.
