How to Survive High-School 101 by Michelle

How to Survive High-School 101 by Michelle - March 2019 Scholarship Essay

As an incoming freshman, you hear of the many different sides to High School. Some people may think that high school is like High School Musical with all the fun and dances or even Mean Girls were it’s all clicky and drama. The very first day is very overwhelming because you go from being involved with your grade level except as a freshman you’re going to be encountering all four grade levels. One thing that you could easily do is getting yourself lost in the crowd. For some reason as students encounter more freedom, they lose track of what they’re supposed to be doing which is developing their academic career. It is easy to lose focus, start lacking in your attendance and to start hanging around with a bad crowd. I watched a straight-A student go from having so much potential to then start doing drugs, involved in gang activity and then have his clean record ruined. The scary part of it all is you don’t realize you’re off track until it’s way later in the year(s). Not to scare anyone, but it’s reality and although most students show up and get whatever they’re supposed to do, there's always that possibility. Besides getting off track with bad behavior, it is easy to get lost in a relationship. You go from being in a place where dating is barely dating to high school where people being to develop “serious” relationships. It is easy to get stirred up into a relationship that you don't think clearly about your future.

What I am saying, if I could give one piece of advice to incoming freshman, I would tell them this: Stay true to yourself and your future. Always remember your end goals and where you want to be in your life. Yes, you will have ups and downs but overcoming them IS possible. So yes, remember who you are, stay above everything else because at the end of the day it is your life. You will come out with friends, maybe even grow relationships with some of your favorite teachers but you have to know that the only certain person that will come out of this is yourself. What you do with your future is your responsibility. Stay true to yourself and your end goals.