I will graduate in 3 days. That’s very weird to think about, to be honest. All my life I have dreaded going to school and always looked at the clock waiting for the bell. I’ve never been particularly fond of school,  but I managed. I found my ways to cope with the stress and stay out of trouble. I wasn’t the cream of the crop, but I was able to keep my grades up and my stress levels fairly low. So here’s my advice for anyone looking to start a great high school career. 

First of all, remember this was my experience. Yours may differ, and this advice may be trivial. This is what worked for me! First off, don’t worry about being popular. I went to this high school fresh out of city schools. I had a new reputation to make because hardly anyone knew me. So I decided to be loud. I wanted my opinions to be heard so I made sure people heard them. I now look back and cringe at the thought of ever being like that again. I had great confidence but I probably shouldn’t have channeled that into debates. Over the past 4 years now I have calmed down much more. I like to approach things with a cool head and when I get angry, I step back. I realized the best thing was not to confront, it was to reflect. That greatly helped me in the long run.

Secondly, I highly recommend not taking any Niswonger classes. The only exception is French. Freshman year during spring I signed up for sign language as my language credit. At the time they were counting it as one. After completing the class, the school changed it to an elective. So by senior year, I had to take my two language credits in one year. I recommend staying to the basics and skipping all the fancy classes and taking Spanish.

Thirdly, treat everyone with respect and kindness. Don’t discriminate against someone if they have a different opinion and or style. There are cliches all around school however, class assignments do not discriminate. People from the same groups normally aren’t assigned to similar classes. School is a big melting pot of subcultures. So don’t look at people differently if they see things differently or present differently. Just accept them and get to know them. We’re all so unique and beautiful. Perhaps a great friendship might bloom if you approach and talk to the person sitting alone at lunch.

Finally, accept who you are and figure out what you want out of life. Everyone has their own goals and passions. So find what your key aspirations are. Don’t try to suppress embarrassing parts of yourself, accept them and move on. And always remember the people that helped you along the way. We, humans, are social creatures. So we like to pick up bits and pieces of the people that change us. We’re essentially a mosaic of everyone we’ve ever known. I find that so very beautiful. So remember that high school is your canvas. So make it one hell of a painting!!!

Andrew Grffith, Signing out……………..