Everything You Need to Know About High School
Everything You Need to Know About High School
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If you're in middle school, pay attention- here's everything you need to know to succeed in high school
If you’re a middle schooler, the most exciting and dreaded time of your life is fast approaching: high school. You might be thinking “it’s just high school and I’m not even switching schools, what’s there to worry about?”, but there is so much more to becoming a high school student than you may realize. High school students know what this experience is like and can tell you firsthand what it was like to make the switch. Your school location may not be changing, but there are plenty of other things that are. Sophomores, juniors, and seniors have come forward to give their advice. This is how you can survive high school.
Knowing the Difference
To transition from middle school to high school, you need to start by knowing the difference between two. High school comes with its own share of fun and games, but it also comes with added academic pressure. As students go through high school, they have the option to take Advanced Placement (AP) or Dual Enrollment courses.
These classes are strongly encouraged by Edgewood because they can help you prepare for the coursework that you will receive when you go off to college. In fact, AP and Dual Enrollment classes can actually get you credit that can be used towards your degree once you arrive at college. As wonderful as that sounds, they should also be taken with caution.
AP and Dual Enrollment courses are harder than other classes. These courses require you to spend more time on your studies and assignments than you may be used to, which can be a shocking change of pace for first-time students. Because these courses are more difficult, they also carry a heavier weight on your GPA.
Doing poorly in these courses has the potential to significantly lower GPA, so for students that have a dream of becoming Valedictorian or getting into an Ivy League, this could mean bad news for you in the future if you let your grades slip.
Besides this, high school courses are taught very differently from middle school classes. High school teachers give greater responsibility to students over their coursework and how they perform in their classes. This doesn’t mean that you get to decide what grade you get in a class, but it does mean that you get the grade based on the work that you put into it.
“One thing that was a big difference, I think, is that you’re not being spoon fed,” said Alex Diakakis, 12. “It’s more up to you and you’re being more independent. It’s like, if you want this, you have to do [the work], but if you don’t, that’s fine, but that’s on you.”
All of this might make high school seem like nothing short of a nightmare, but it does come with its own share of upsides that can make it an exciting portion of your life.
“In high school, you have a lot more opportunities to do things that you love,” said Alexandria Amunategui, 11. “I joined a lot of clubs that were only exclusive to high schoolers and they are so much fun and they gave me good passions, like for community service.”
Once you reach high school, the door is opened to all kinds of new opportunities that you didn’t have in middle school. There are a good portion of clubs that are only open to students in grades 9-12, which means that making the step up gives you many more choices. This isn’t just true for the clubs that Edgewood offers, it is also true for the classes.
When you are given your choices for freshman year, you will begin to see your course registration sheet get longer. This is because, just like clubs, there are some classes that are only allowed to be taken by high schoolers. As you go through high school, you will see a larger array of class options, including anything from AP Art to Marine Science.
Making the switch to high school does come with its share of pros and cons, but it also comes with its own set of lessons that upperclassmen want to share with you before you start your first day.
Lesson #1: Pick Your Classes Wisely
We touched on this topic just a moment ago, but this was a point that high schoolers felt needed more attention. Whether it’s when you’re picking your courses for your first year in high school or your last, take special care when deciding what you enroll in.
“Try not to lose yourself and get swept up with what everyone else is doing. Experience high school the way that you want to and take advice from people, but follow what you actually want to do,” said Diakakis.
Don’t take a class just because your friends are doing it or because everyone around you checked that box on their registration packet. You might feel peer pressure from those around you to take a course that you’re not interested in or one that you think is too difficult for you, but don’t let those influence you to make a wrong decision. Take what you think you can handle and what really interests you.
As you choose what you want to take, spend time also thinking about yourself and where you see yourself after high school.
“Think about what you want in your future and sort of gear your classes towards that. Just studying a lot helps and getting a tutor if they really need it,” said Bria Cottrell, 10.
Having this forward-thinking mindset will not only help you to be prepared for your future endeavors, it could also save you from taking unnecessary classes down the road. If the degree that you foresee yourself getting doesn't require AP Physics, then there is no sense in taking the course, unless you are really interested in it. This will only cost you time and stress, and the payoff might not even be worth it.
Lesson #2: You’re Going to be Busy
“I am way busier now than I was in middle school. I added a lot more extracurriculars and then I think a lot of work, like before school homework and stuff, [which] did pile on a little bit. It increased a pretty good amount from when I was in middle school,” said Cottrell.
When going from middle school to high school, another thing that upperclassmen shared is that your homework level is going to significantly increase. Taking more challenging courses means that you will also have more work that needs to be completed outside of the classroom, which can easily catch you off guard if you don’t see it coming.
Completing all this work isn’t anything that you can’t handle, but it is something that you should look out for. The best way to deal with this busy schedule is to try to keep all of your ducks in a row.
“Stay on top of your things,” said Gustavo Toledo, 12. “You won’t feel necessarily overwhelmed if you are passionate about what you’re learning and about and you can stay on top of your stuff and you’re organized.”
Being “organized” can vary from person to person, but the idea is the same: make sure you know what you need to do and when you need to do it by. With seven class periods and different due dates for each assignment, it can become confusing very quickly which ones need to be turned in by midnight. Some students use a planner to keep track of their assignments, while others use lists.
Whatever practice works for you, make sure you stick to it. If you’ve spent all of your middle school years relying on your trusty brain, now might be the time to start looking into alternative options. You might have the memory of a steel trap, but when it comes to all of these due dates, it could seriously hurt your grade if you forget one.
Lesson #3: Take Your Grades Seriously
If you want to go to college, you’re going to need to take your grades seriously and that starts freshman year. When colleges review your application and transcript, they don’t just look at the grades that you earned in your junior or senior year, they look at how well you did throughout your entire time in high school.
That being said, taking your grades seriously is the most common piece of advice that high school students could give. When you start your freshman year, you need to remember that these grades count, and therefore, the stakes are much higher if you slack off.
“In middle school, you’re a little bit more chill about it, but when high school hits, you really have to focus in,” said Ellie Roberts, 11.
In middle school, it wasn’t such a big deal if you missed an assignment or turned something in late, because the only people who would see what you earned was your parents. But when you transition into high school, these grades will also be shown to every college or university that you submit an application to.
That might seem really stressful, because every grade you earn will be shown to your dream school, but don’t worry, it’s not as scary as it sounds.
Colleges and universities know that sometimes students get overwhelmed by difficult classes or that they may not perform as well in one class as opposed to another. That’s why it’s alright to not get the highest grade in every class and it’s okay to earn a “B” every once in a while.
“I wish someone would have told me that it’s always good to try your best, but it’s okay to make mistakes. I feel like that would have saved me a lot of grief and stress, like I was so stressed and I made a few mistakes and I’ve gotten a few bad grades and I’m doing fine, my GPA is fine, and there’s really nothing to worry about,” said Amunategui.
Taking your grades seriously doesn’t mean that you must consistently do well in every class or earn straight A’s on every report card. It means that you should try your best on all of the course material you’re given and put your best foot forward. Working hard and putting the time into your work might take away time from playing video games or watching Netflix, but it is a necessity during high school.
Lesson #4: Stress is a Fact of Life
Walking around the Edgewood campus, you might have heard and become familiar with the phrase “I’m so stressed.” You might be thinking that you'll never be overwhelmed by stress, but unfortunately, this is a part of high school that you can’t fully escape from. In fact, stress is something that will be present in many stages of your life.
“Stress is always going to exist and what it truly looks like at the end is how you react to it. So the people that are reacting to the stress better are going to be more successful, so I would get into a healthy mindset and know that stress always exists, it’s just how you’re going to combat it,” said Amunategui.
As a high school student, you will be faced with many stressful moments- like choosing the right college or trying to complete all of your work- but this is not where it ends. Like all obstacles, stress can be decreased and overcome.
You should never let stress consume you and you should have measures in place to try to prevent it from building up. When you transition from middle school to high school, you should make sure that you have something already in place to help you reduce stress; with this plan already in place, you will be able to get over challenges that may arise over time. For tips on how to reduce stress, click here.
Lesson #5: Make the Most of It!
Your time in high school is limited and it flies by really quickly. Just as quickly as it starts, it will end, so it’s important to make the most of the time that you have available to you.
“Make as many memories as you can,” said Cottrell. “You don’t want to look back at your high school experience and see that it was just boring. I like to look back and think ‘yeah, I had a lot of fun when I was in high school.’”
Cherishing the time that you have in high school will make the experience more worthwhile. Don’t stay in every weekend- instead, go out and spend time with the friends you made in middle school. To make the most of it, you also have to know when it is time to let go of certain things that came out of middle school.
Any drama, arguments, or hardships that you might have faced while you were there are things that you should leave behind as you transition to this new chapter. Dwelling in the past on things that have already happened will keep you from experiencing the fun and excitement that high school can bring.
“Stay with people you have good fond memories with and all that nonsense drama, just leave it.” said Roberts. “Go make some good memories.”
Next Steps
After reading all the things that current high schoolers wish they knew, you probably have one big question: what now?
There is no magic guidebook that will tell you how to move from middle to high school and there isn’t much of a way to get ready for what it will be like. The lessons that you learned here, about what high schoolers wish they knew, will take you far, but not to the finish line. But even though it may be difficult, moving to high school isn’t as hard as you may think it will be.
“I don’t know if there really is a way to sort of prepare for it, but I think Edgewood does a really good job of that in particular because you're at the same school, [you] don’t have to go to a new school, so just being there for two years, you’re already experiencing what it’s going to be like when you’re in high school,” said Toledo.
Making the switch may sound bad now, but it will be much easier for you than you might expect. Remaining at Edgewood from middle school to high school will allow you to remain in a familiar place and be with classmates and teachers that you already know. From where you’re standing, high school may be looking pretty scary, but you will get the hang of it quicker than you might think.
“It’s not as scary as it seems it would be, and things are different than they were in middle school, but they’re more fun,” said Cottrell.
This is Kaitlyn’s second year on the Edge staff and sixth year at Edgewood. She enjoys creating art, completing community service, and spending tons of time with animals. As a staff writer, she hopes to write diverse stories and prepare for her future career.
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