Students all across the Northeastern coast are enjoying their last swims and sleepovers of summer as they prepare to return to school after Labor Day weekend. Surely the 2015-2016 school year will be a year that brings lots of change, especially for those boys and girls born in 2001 and 2002 that are now entering high school.
As the feeling of how old you are (regrettably) sinks in, imagine the feeling of your baby sibling going on to tackle their freshman year of high school... without you. Being away at college thousands of miles away is the exact opposite of where you want to be during such a crucial milestone in his or her life. The FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) on school dances and on not even meeting their first boy or girlfriend is seriously the most heart-wrenching part of it all.
One of our major responsibilities as older siblings is to watch out for our younger brothers and sisters. Protecting them and offering words of wisdom is an innate reaction, but for some, the message (and its delivery) can be misguided. As a person who is much more descriptive on paper, I've written a letter to my own 13-year-old sister: a survival guide to freshman year.
Here's a list of the things I wish I had an older sibling tell me before I started high school:
1. Not everyone is your friend
You will meet a lot of people during your first week in high school, depending on how big your school is. The good news is, everyone in your classes will be in the same boat as you, which is less scary. As time passes, however, you'll start to notice that some people are genuine about being your friend and some are trying to bring you down. High school drama seems to be lurking in every hallway, but you become less of a magnet for drama the more you distance yourself from it–don't add fuel to the melting pot of gossip, hurtful lies, and rumors. The truth is, you don't need those negative influences in your life at all!
2. Parents are not always your enemy
Hear me out. Despite the fact that they'll be doing a lot of disciplining during that first year–so much so that it feels like a prison sentence for you–it's for a good reason! They need to make sure you are taking school seriously, staying out of trouble, and practicing your instruments daily, as instructed. Whether you think they're being harsh or not falls entirely on your shoulders. Really consider their side and listen to them, and hopefully they'll start to ease up. I promise, they do these things because they love you and want to see you win at life.
3. Brace Yourself for Geometry
I swear, nothing is more painful than proving theories and memorizing angle degrees. Enjoy algebra for as long as you can!
4. Own it.
I mean own everything about yourself: the good, the bad, your strengths, your flaws, your hair, skin, style, the list goes forever. The more you feel (and are) confident, the more people will gravitate towards you for the right reasons. You're only in high school once, and it goes by faster than you think it will, so it's better to just enjoy the ride.
