High School: A new building, new grade, new you (or so we'd all like to believe). To many, entering a new school year, nonetheless a new building, can be scary. With COVID-19, these fears are most likely exacerbated. Here are 10 tips and tricks for your first high school year that I wish I had known when I was a freshman.
1. Join as many clubs as possible
Joining a club or two is a great way to ensure that you start the school year off strong and build a strong foundation for your upcoming school years. Clubs can help you decide what you would like to pursue throughout college and as a career, and even increase your chances of getting into a college.
2. create good study habits
Despite being the last thing you're excited to do during high school, studying is essential for good grades. Creating good study habits will help you get good grades and can even be fun if you allow it to be, such as having a study group, or a study buddy. With the study habits needed in order to get good grades, you'll be thankful that you started high school with a strong study habit.
3. Develop good relationships with teachers
By developing good relationships with your teachers, you'll be opening a window of opportunity for many different things, such as a chance for community service hours, and even homework or school work extensions. Getting on your teachers' good side can give you the opportunity to receive letters of recommendation for college and extracurriculars.
4. Do a sport you love
Joining a sport is a sure way to increase the chances of you getting a scholarship for college, and sports/exercising has been shown to improve teens' mental health and grades. Even though joining a sport might leave you a little pressed for time, the benefits definitely outweigh the cons of not joining a sport.
5. Do your work ahead of time
Working ahead of time is essential for remaining stress-free throughout high school. If you don't do your work on time, there's no guarantee that your teachers will grant you an extension, and doing it a few days before it's due will allow you to work on other things and have free-time before receiving other assignments.
6. don't study the night before
Cramming the night before will just lead to you being tired the morning of your test, and you'll end up forgetting everything you had learned the night before, which will lead to you failing the test. Studying up to a week before will lead to an improved test score and leave both you and your teacher happier than you would have been, had you crammed.
7. Stay organized
Organization is the key to maintaining that A+ you hoped to get in high school. After all, how are you supposed to get good grades if your work is lost in a folder full of every subject and you're unable to find it when it's due, leading to a missing grade? Staying organized will lead to a massive improvement in grades, and impress you and your teachers.
8. get a planner
The key to staying organized is to keep a planner of all your assignments due, and what you have going on in the upcoming weeks. With a planner, you can stay organized and manage to know what assignments you have to complete and when they are due without having to stress about not knowing, or not remembering.
9. Make new friends
Having a friend group is a great way to stay motivated, and they can help you study and answer questions when you don't understand something that is going on in class. Having new friends is also a way to stay connected with other people and know what is going on at your high school, and creates a fun way to study.
10. Participate in class
If your school has a participation grade like mine does, you should know that participation can be crucial in whether you pass or fail a class. Participating also leads to your teacher liking you, which leads to more opportunities. Participating in class helps you remember what you're learning, and increases your grades.
High school is one of the most fun, yet important, times of your life, so you should be sure to create good study habits to ensure a successful future! Connecting with teachers and other students is important in order to create a well-rounded education for you and help you get into a great college. Don't worry about what others think about you and just be yourself! High school will be one of the best times of your life.
