By Kate Buchas
High school is a time where everyone is trying to figure themselves out while also trying to have the best times of their lives. Getting through high school can be extremely difficult and emotional. A couple of things you may need will be easy to figure out, but for others upperclassmen can help you out with that.
Coffee– When I was a freshman, I wasn’t the biggest fan of coffee. I thought it tasted like dirt and overall, I hated it. I was wrong. Coffee will, at one point or another, be one of your best friends. There will be times throughout high school where you will be late several times because the Dunkin Donuts line was too long and you needed that coffee to get through the day. Late start on Thursday mornings is a big deal, as well. Whether you take the bus or drive, there is a large population of students that go to Dunkin for coffee.
Typical school supplies– Don’t be that kid that never has his/her calculator or always has to ask for a pencil or chromebook charger. No one, I repeat, no one likes that kid. Typically you don’t get told what you need for class, until you are actually in the class. So, a few days before school, buy a folder for every class, a pack of pencils or pens, and a notebook. This way, when all your teachers tell you what you need, you go out that night and get all the supplies. It’s normally nothing more than a binder, paper and writing utensils, maybe even a calculator.
Routine– There is really nothing more important than having a solid routine. As high school goes on, there will be times where you get off track and you do things you aren’t supposed to, but that’s what being a teenager is all about. If you have a routine in the morning, your life can instantly become 10 times easier than it was before. You’ll always know what you have to do next and where you go and who you go with. For example, if every morning, you wake up at 6:15, shower until 6:30, get dressed and eat breakfast by 6:55, you’ll be out the door by 7 every day, give or take a few minutes here and there, depending on if you want to sleep rather than shower. In that case, shower the night before. Everything will almost always fall into place when you have a routine.
Respect for your teachers– With your teachers, there will come a time at least once per day that you have to act like a mature adolescent. There will be teachers that hold your hand all throughout the class, but once you’re out of that class, you move on to a new semester and chances are, that teacher won’t be nearly as comforting and as helpful as the last. A teacher’s job is to teach. Most don’t just teach the subject that is printed on your schedule either, they teach you life lessons, things they’ve learned when they were your age, and just overall helpful things to know about the world around you.
Time management– When you get to the age of fifteen or sixteen, you start to apply for jobs, and other extracurricular activities, Which means, you’ll need to learn how to balance your time. There will be weeks where you have one free day a week. That day is typically Sunday. Once that day of the week hits, most teens are very excited to sleep in and not do anything all day, until they realize they skipped all the time they had during the week to do homework in order to go out with friends. Now, they spend hours upon hours doing homework, and do not have any time to relax; they go through this about six more times before they realize they have to get their act together.