A Note To Self by Hannah

A Note To Self by Hannah - September 2022 Scholarship Essay

I have in my brain many instances of times where I wished I knew something sooner is infinite. No, I'm not sure that's an exaggeration. My big piece of self advice I'd give to my past self would be to listen to others: take that advice!
When I was in 8th grade, my science teacher was very adamant on her students being prepared for highschool. How to organize things, where to go, what to do and what not to do. Up until this point I hadn't really thought to take any of my past teachers' advice. Yes, it backfired on me. Multiple times. One would think that I would have learned my lesson after a few go-rounds. But I didn't. However it was towards the end of the year, and I had no clue how to even approach highschool. So, being the panicked soon-to-be freshman I was, I decided to pay attention to when she started her sentence, like she always did, with "When my son was in highschool..." Turns out, it was how to organize your papers and notebooks.
She told us to assign a journal and folder to every class, and to label all of it. She told us we didn't need to use our lockers and that we had to walk farther distances between classes with longer class periods waiting for us.
When I tell people that I clung to that knowledge, I clung. Hard. When I went school supplies shopping that year, I brought my schedule with me and bought the 8 notebooks and folders. And some labels. And the strategy worked perfectly. I had an almost flawless Freshman year, with COVID bursting its way through.
After discovering that taking people's advice actually works, I find myself eager to take advice if it might make my life easier. So, note to my younger self, take the advice. You won't regret it.