My sophomore year, I wrote a piece entitled “Dear Incoming Freshman”. It’s only been two years since I wrote my first advice article, but I feel as though I have lived a million lifetimes since. Seeing as I am now a sage, wise elderly person (I celebrated my 17th birthday last month) I figured I would have more advice to offer. Ironically, it was a lot easier to write the initial “Dear Incoming Freshman” than it was to write this, which leads me to my first piece of advice:
Things are not as simple as you would like them to be.
When I was younger, I thought everything could be easily sorted into “right” and “wrong”. I would defiantly make statements like “I will ALWAYS do this” or “I would NEVER do that”. I wish I could go back to freshmen year and take back all my “always” and “nevers” because the truth is, I had no idea about anything. High school has taught me that most situations and choices are not just good or bad, most things are pretty nuanced. Once I found out how complicated most situations are, I realized that judging people before you know their side of the story (and trust me, there is always a side you do not know) is unfair and unproductive.
Always bring headphones to school.
Don’t be the jerk that wears headphones when a teacher is trying to teach, but definitely bring them to school. This goes double if you are a Prospect student taking the bus. Headphones are so essential.
It’s worth it if you love it.
Being committed to an activity or sport you love means that sometimes you will miss out on other fun things. Try not to get hung up on these times. It is much better to occasionally skip out on social events than it is to not have something that makes you as happy as something you love. Please don’t refrain from getting involved with a sport or activity because of fear it will interfere with your free time, it will but it will be worth it. On the same note, please NEVER refrain from doing what you love because of your fear it isn’t “cool”. Being cool doesn’t matter, being happy matters.
Everything in math pops up again. Sorry.
I walked into high school DESPISING math. I have been lucky enough to have great math teachers that helped me change my attitude, but I still don’t love it. However, I have learned that you can’t just wait until a challenging chapter is over and try to start fresh, because everything in math pops up again. I have never felt terror like I felt when geometry (my old nemesis) popped up in pre-calculus this year. On a similar note,
If you cry over your honors math homework every single night, go to CP math.
Stop trying to be a hero! If you cannot keep up with honors math, there is no shame in taking a math course you can actually comprehend.
Before you freak out, consider if you are just tired or hungry.
It took me longer than I would like to admit to realize that my hunger has an EXTREME impact on the way I treat the people around me. Try to take a nap or eat a snack before you do something to hurt someone’s feelings. I would also like to take this time to apologize to anyone who has fallen victim to what I said to him or her when I was tired and/or hungry.
Don’t take everything personally. Someone might just be tired or hungry.
Just how you might wrongfully snap at someone when you are tired or hungry, someone might wrongfully snap at you.
People will always talk, don’t worry about it.
Yeah, you might be the subject of gossip a few times, but don’t worry about it. We live in small towns and go to a relatively small high school, which means people get bored sometimes and look for something to talk about. Gossip sucks, but it helps to realize that the root of most gossip is boredom and not maliciousness. Before long, everyone will be on to the next thing.
Not everyone deserves to know everything.
Just because someone asks you about something does not mean you have to answer it. I’m not saying you should not open up to people, but I am advising you to be cautious about who you open up to.
Support Woodland.
Doing journalism the last three years has taught me Woodland has an awesome student body. There is never a shortage of students (musicians, athletes, leaders, artists) doing amazing things that are worth writing stories about. Go to games, Fine Arts nights, and shows. Not only is it cool to see people in their element, but your support will be noticed and appreciated by the people you are supporting.
Make an effort to get close with your advisory.
Why wouldn’t you want to become friendly with the kids you see for twenty minutes every day? It makes sense and makes your days so much easier. Also, don’t date in advisory. I know some of you will read this and do it anyway, but don’t.
There is so much time to grow up.
Do everything at your own pace. There is so much time to act like an adult, and so little time to enjoy being a kid.
Not everyone will like you, but that’s okay because you won’t like everyone.
Listen: everyone has different personalities, and sometimes personalities are not compatible. Before you worry about someone not liking you, ask yourself if you even like them. Chances are, you don’t. Just let bygones be bygones and don’t force a friendship that just is not meant to be.
Try not to fight fire with fire.
I feel hypocritical writing this, because I still have to relearn this lesson all the time. But try as hard as you can to take the high road. Is it less fun to take the high road? Absolutely. But is it worth it in the long run? Absolutely.
It’s not the end of the world.
Over the course of my high school career, I have thought “MY LIFE IS OVER” maybe a dozen times. Surprisingly, my life has continued every single time I thought it was “OVER”. Making mistakes is an unavoidable and necessary part of high school, but it all works out. If you think your life is over, I suggest you go to Carvel. This is a ritual my older sister introduced me to when I was a sophomore, and it has yet to fail me. I think it’s worth mentioning that my “MY LIFE IS OVER” moments have become less recent as I have gotten older, despite my life becoming more stressful. This leads me to my favorite piece of advice, one that I received from my journalism advisor, Mr. Amato, when I was a freshman:
“It doesn’t get easier, but you will get better.”
My freshman year, I was in the midst of stressing out about schoolwork and life in general, when Mr. Amato said this to me. At the time, I was confused (and probably vaguely annoyed) by his advice, but now I realize it is the truest, most comforting piece of advice. Life will become more challenging as you get older, but you will also become smarter and better suited to handle whatever life throws at you.
Now that you are basically done reading this, I will give you my last piece of advice:
Don’t listen to all the advice you get.
Yeah, it’s ironic to end an advice piece like this, but it feels necessary to include. Sometimes people will give you advice to do something that you know, in your gut, is not the right thing to do. In those scenarios, I suggest you listen to your gut and do what you feel is the kind, smart thing to do. If you try to do that whenever you can, you will be okay.
Tina is the Executive Social Media Director, and in charge of managing Hawk Headlines. She has spent three full semesters here, and is heavily involved with theater. Tina describes herself as a "pop culture aficionado".
