Get Involved! by Savannah

Get Involved! by Savannah - March 2019 Scholarship Essay

At my school, and most others I am sure, there is a trend that I have noticed. This is that there are people that hate their school. They hate their high school with a passion. Now, your typical high schooler says they hate their school an unnecessary amount throughout their time there, but the people I am talking about genuinely hate it. The reason is because they are not involved in a single activity. My biggest piece of advice to the incoming freshmen at my high school is to get involved in an activity. As a girl who has played volleyball and run track in high school, I can vouch for those being the reason that I am not miserable and lonely. I know that I sound like your everyday school counselor trying to get you into something that one might not find appealing at all, but I swear that not joining an activity is the biggest reason to why people have a bad high school experience.

Freshmen are thrown into this hectic environment with people who are older than they can even imagine themselves being yet. Freshmen are scared and lost for at least the first week. I am sure most of the freshmen are worried about who they are going to make friends with. I know I was. Already having a club or sport they want to join saves them from having to deal with that stress. Knowing that they are going to meet up with a group of people who they have common interests with gives them a sense of relief that they will have friends. The people they meet through this club or sport become their friends throughout high school.

Through these clubs and sports, they meet upperclassmen. They seem intimidating and too cool for you at first, but freshmen soon realize that they are like them just with more knowledge of what to do and what not to do at the school. The upperclassmen are a freshmen's greatest asset. Freshmen quickly learn what classes to take, where they should sit at lunch to enjoy themselves more, how to impress their club or sport coach, what people they should stay away from, and who they should hang around more. These might seem like small things that do not matter, but all together they could make or break a high school experience. Freshmen do not really get a chance to meet upperclassmen except through clubs and sports, so please put yourself out there to make friends with them and to enhance your high school experience all around.

Lastly, these clubs and sports help a high schooler develop skills that can be used to get them into college and help them the rest of their life. For example, a freshman could start playing soccer and realize they love it. That person could work hard enough over the course of four years to become amazing at it and get a soccer scholarship to go to a college for free. Another example is, a student could join a club like UIL where they go to competitions and compete in the area that they are good in. This person could progress over the course of four years and go to state in that. They could get scholarships to colleges that want someone with the talent they have mastered. Let’s say that a freshman does not want to go to a university after high school. There are classes like Automachanics that help a student master welding, fixing cars, and other skills that could help them be prepared to go to a technical school or to go straight into the workforce making great money. This is all while a student is meeting people, they have something in common with and truly enjoying their high school experience.

As a freshman, finding a group of people one has a lot in common with is what makes high school fun and keeps them on a good track. This is achievable through clubs and sports. I know that if I would have taken the lazy route, my high school experience would have been so much worse. A freshman taking the initiative of going and finding a group or people that they share an interest with or even creating their own club if they cannot find any, is what creates life long memories that they will cherish forever. My biggest piece of advice to the incoming freshmen at my high school is to get involved in an activity. The worst that can happen is they do not like it, and in that case, they can try a new activity or put together their own club. When a high school graduate looks back on their experience, they do not regret putting themselves out there and trying new things. They only regret the things they did not try to do. Put yourself out their freshmen.