As a freshman in high school, I want to be successful. I have four years of my life ahead of me in this one building. This one high school that has a big impact on my future. I want to get good grades, get involved, make new friends and get better at my sports and extracurriculars, just like most people when they begin high school.

But as many of my upperclassman friends have told me, your goals and dreams go down the drain. They stopped getting good grades, school got harder, there was way more work and the pressure was too much. Everyone seems to break down and lose it somewhere along the way. When will you break?

Never. The answer is never. This train of students losing hope each year needs to stop. We have to learn from each other's mistakes.

When you enter high school, you’re excited and nervous, but hopeful that you will succeed. Some people are concerned about succeeding in sports, others about getting good grades and others about different aspects of high school. But whatever it is, at some point in high school, the pressure breaks you. You stop getting those good grades, you stop trying in your sport, you stop caring. It happens to everyone. Very few people make it through all four years without regrets.

But why? Why does this happen; why do we all give up? With most of my high school life ahead of me, I am determined to find out why, and I am determined to not give up.

When asked about how to do well in high school, many graduates say to get involved. Getting involved can help you find something you're passionate about, make new friends, and explore new areas of your creativity. But is that it? Just get involved? Nope. There's more.

If your goal or focus in high school is getting good grades, you have to be disciplined. The beginning of freshman year is easy, you're motivated. But as the years goes on, you begin to care less and less. You have to stay focused. You have to go home each night and force yourself to do your homework and study. Thinking about how happy you'll be when you get a good grade is good motivation. One tip is that every weekend, you should go through your work, clean it out, organize it and get ready for the next week. This way, you know what you have to do or work on, and you haven't just gotten messier and sloppier with your work each week.

Tip number two: don't slack off. If you have free time in class or a few minutes before your after school activity, do your work! Sure, you could talk to your friends or go on your phone, but if you whip out one worksheet, that's one less thing you have to do that night.

When seniors graduate, they all seem to have some regret. They wished they studied harder for that one test, they wish they had joined this club or they wish they had just trained a little harder for their sport. Don't be like that. Whether you have two months left in high school or four years, make the most of your time. Time flies over those four years, and every test, every game, every day counts.

So learn from your peers’ previous mistakes. Don't give up; don't lose hope. Stay focused. Stay motivated. Don't get sucked up into the whirlwind of pressure. You can do it. We can all do it. Together, we won't just make it through high school, we will dominate and thrive in high school! So however much time you have left in that crazy place, make the most of it.