Unconventional Advice For High School Seniors
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Unconventional Advice For High School Seniors

Contrary to the recycled, well-known commencement advice high school seniors are constantly inundated to, here is some original, daring advice that cuts through to what really matters and what really doesn't matter.

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Unconventional Advice For High School Seniors
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Seniors in high school are constantly inundated by generic, overly-sentimental, pastiche, "Dead Poets Society" advice that seems so right, but is often both inapplicable and incorrect. Simply being told to "cherish" senior year is recycled every year by college freshmen who do have hindsight, but don't look into it thoroughly enough to give true advice down to their apprentices.

I'd like to give you what I personally think is some specific advice that you can both apply immediately and will be thankful for years down the line.


Slack off.

Senior year of high school is very odd because it's the only year of high school that is not more important grade-wise than the previous one. After senior year, college begins, and GPA begins. Senior year is truly the last year of school when you don't need to really worry about your grades.

Slacking off has a very powerful feeling to it, too. Even if it's fake, there's the feeling of owning the school, being better than the school, even. To know that some classes aren't worth your time gives you a nice release to adhering to the caste system you've known about since you started walking the halls in lines in preschool.

Though the transition appears to be as effortless as the act, there's truly an art to slacking off in senior year, as, of course, slacking off too much could result in your college taking back your acceptance. That's why I'd like to call this proposed method "Dynamic Slackisism."

"Dynamic Slackisism" is predicated on the idea that you cut corners on the least essential matters and in the most opportune moments within regulation, as well as being leisurely efficient. So, if you can pay attention in class, go ahead and don't do your homework if you don't find it necessary. If you're really, unusually tired in the morning, go in late. If you're not going into a field of math, take Algebra 3 instead of Pre-calculus (though I guess this advice is irrelevant for people a semester into their senior year.)

This method combats the common classroom posters "Give 100 percent," "Give 110 percent," or if you're really a badass, "give 120 percent." But if you give 120 percent, 120 percent of the time, you are going to wear yourself out big time. Sometimes, and hear me out, it's better for you to give yourself a break in this culture that is so obsessed with the "American Dream." Senior year is the best time to take advantage of this.

Think of your senior year of high school as your big 10 minute break of your study hour that is education. Once your study break is over, you'll feel refreshed and ready to go back to studying.

You don't have to go to Senior Prom.

I was compelled to say don't go to Senior Prom, but I think that's misleading. I'm more targeting the niche of college students that are only going to prom because they're also going to prom weekend.

Seniors across the country go to prom weekend without going to Senior Prom. Don't go to prom just because you want to go to prom weekend. You will spend more money wearing uncomfortable clothes and listening to awful music for three hours than you will partying for three days and nights.

And if you think you'll feel left out at while all of the people at your house are at prom, remember that it really is three hours. Besides, you only really talk with other people that aren't your date during dinner.

Not to mention, Senior Prom itself is much better on paper than it is in practice. It sounds very exciting to be able to dance and have fun just hours before you go down to the beach, but guests often refrain from this because they're going to dance and have fun for a whole weekend. What often happens is that the seniors, trapped, wait for the last 30 minutes until they're allowed to leave. Senior Prom is different from something like Junior Prom, where the prom itself is the only true event.

Again, I'm not telling you not to go to Senior Prom. I went to it and really enjoyed it — though it was mostly due to me having a great prom date. But for those who aren't really sure, and are feeling exterior pressures, I'll remind you that there's nothing wrong in just waiting those hours, and then heading to the shore.

Fool around with different clubs.

You will finally find who you are in college, so get a head start and see what you're at least interested in through after school clubs. Try a philosophy club, a chess club, just anything that you have even a minute interest in. And there are even more of these clubs in college, so a start in high school can not only give you some exploration, but also some potential experience. Wow. That was much quicker than the rest of them. Okay. Moving on.

Talk to and hang out with people you don't plan on keeping in touch with after high school more.

A common piece of advice is to "cherish your friends," specifically your best friends. Though I'm not completely opposed to this vague advice, you will have ample opportunity to talk to and be with your best friends after high school. First you have an entire summer, free of summer reading or summer projects, to be able to be with your best friends. Then, in school, if you're not already going with these friends, you'll be keeping in touch with them constantly. And then, you will have breaks to the point that you will see them often. Let's take a look at when you go back home:

Thanksgiving Break

Duration: Four days

Time after last visit: Less than three months.

Winter Break

Duration: One month

Time after last visit: One month

Spring Break

Duration: One week

Time after last visit: Two Months

Summer Break:

Duration: Three and a half months

Time after last visit: Two months

So through twelve months, you get to see your best friends for almost five of them, and you won't spend three months apart from each other. You will be fine. But for the people you're acquainted with in school, you might not really see them again. You might see what they're up to on Facebook, but the memories of you two talking in math class and your discussions in lunch will be the last you'll have of them, so truly make the most of it.

Take risks socially, and don't worry about ramifications.

In high school, we think of our town as the universe, one in which we have ever known. Every day, we see the same people, and all of our actions are received and reacted to by these people. With everything being on a small scale, it's easy to recede into a safe, paranoid place of personality, afraid to be alienated by everyone.

The biggest thing I realized when I was getting used to college was that there is more to life than this town. Your town is a universe, but once you leave that universe, it doesn't go with you. Everything about it, who dated whom, what that person did to that person, all doesn't matter.

So my last and most important advice is this: ask that one person out. Go crazy at parties. Escape that grudge you've been holding with that person since fifth grade. Because this universe that means so much to you now will soon not matter. And though the idea of everything you know not mattering after high school frightens you, just wait until what life has to offer next.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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