3.Ask for help. Learn how to forge relationships with teachers and guidance counselors. Ask for help on a concept you’re trying to grasp after class, meet with your English teacher to talk about an upcoming essay. Getting comfortable with talking to teachers will help once you get to college. You will need help outside of class sometimes, and you have to be able to ask for it and interact with your professors. Relationships with them may help you get a job or get into grad school. Of course, your high school teachers will also likely write your college recommendations; it doesn’t hurt to get to know them early so they can have good things to say about you.
10 Things I Wish I’d Known in High School Sometimes high school seems like a necessary evil, that step between childhood and the structure of elementary school and adulthood and the freedom of college. I remember feeling like I was just ready to be done – and that was only the beginning of sophomore year. Now at the end of my college journey, I know that while I did well in high school, there are some things in particular that made high school and college easier for me. And there are still more things I could have done to make my high school experience more fun, more manageable, and more beneficial.
4.Find your own de-stress routine. Another essential skill to begin building in high school is how to manage work and stress. In college, you will not have homework to turn in every day, making sure you’re on track with what you’re supposed to be learning. A good deal of the learning will be up to you to complete on your own time. Inevitably, you will get behind and stressed out sometimes; knowing how to deal with that stress can make all the difference. Maybe you deal with stress by going for a run, or taking a break to watch a silly sitcom. Talk with a friend for a while or play with your dog. Find out what relaxes you and take short breaks from amounts of work that seem unmanageable to de-stress. You’ll find that it will be easily manageable.
1.Stretch your brain. Take a class that scares you at least once during high school. Don’t let preconceptions about the class or the teacher sway you from taking a class that you know you can do well in. Maybe you’ll decide to take an honors class instead of going the regular route; maybe you’ll opt for Chemistry AP when you’re done with your science requirement. The experience will definitely make you a stronger student and prepare you for future academic chal-lenges. If you can face those challenges, if you can bring them on yourself and enjoy them, you will succeed. 2.Don’t sweat your grades too much. Getting a B here and there is not the end of the world. In fact, it’s kind of a good thing. I started college at a top university with straight A’s since seventh grade, and it was hard to deal with not being able to repeat that. I shied away from taking some harder courses I might have done well in because I was afraid of doing poorly. Now, I can fully accept that if I try my hardest in a class and get a B+, that is still something to be proud of.
5.Do something good. Volunteer. Not every day, not to fulfill a class requirement, not because you can use it on applications. Volunteer because it makes you feel good, and because you're a lot luckier than a lot of people out there. Make a once a month commitment at a daycare center; be an organizer for the annual holiday pageant at the Women's Shelter. Find time to give back. It'll put everything else into perspective and it’s a good habit to get into when you’re young.
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