To the high school freshman:
Never let people make you mean
You will run into people during your four years of high school who are rude or just have hurtful things to say. That’s just a part of life. Teenage girls are mean. But do not let people change who you are. You do not control how people act towards you, but everyone has a choice on how they act towards others.
There is nothing wrong with innocence
High school is a big jump from middle school, and you might feel pressured to grow up as quickly as possible. You have your whole life ahead of you to grow up. Stay true to yourself, do not let anyone pressure you.
You will experience awkward moments
It is inevitable that you will have awkward experiences, interactions, conversations, and pretty much just about everything during your time in high school. Do not overthink it. Don’t spend all of your time dwelling on one wrong thing you said yesterday while talking to a friend. I promise you no one will remember these moments, and everyone has them.
Take the fun electives
Your high school years, and especially your underclassmen years, are a time for taking all of the fun classes the school has to offer. Try new things! While being on campus here, I have been in electives such as ceramics, floral design, student council, advertising, fashion marketing, journalism, and so many other fun classes. Just because you are in high school does not mean you cannot have fun classes still. And take them now because when you are a junior or a senior, you will want early release!
Stay true to yourself
Peer pressure is not like they show it in the movies. Rarely will someone actually force you to do something, but usually, things just happen from not wanting to be left out. It is ok to feel left out. You have heard this a million times before, but just because people are doing something does not mean it’s cool. If you do not feel right doing something, do not do it! No one is judging you, and if they are, they are not the people you want to be around anyway.
Try your hardest in your classes
When you are a senior and applying to colleges, you will be really happy when your GPA reflects all of your hard work from every year. That means freshman year too. Freshman year does matter when you are a senior. If you work hard in each of your classes now, your future self will thank you!
You are not supposed to be perfect right away
You have so many years in front of you, who you are now does not mean you will be that same person when you are a senior. And that is not a bad thing at all. You will experience so many things that will shape you into the person you are when you graduate from high school. You also want to be able to look back and be proud of the person you became each year.
Savor this time, you’ll be a senior before you know it!
Love, Haley
