Tomorrow I start high school.

[Brandon237]

Eh, was easy for me, find people like yourself, and you will be good. They said our marks would drop 10% going into highschool, mine dropped by... 1%? SO do your work, find people like you and enjoy a little more freedom.

I am grade 10 now (std 8) and I much prefer it to primary school.

 

[CerealKiller214]

I'm going to high school soon too. But I'm not really nervous, afraid or whatever because one of my best friends goes to the same high school as I do.
I will try more to define my self new than find new friends how I am now. Because it didn't worked in elementary or in middle school. I hope that the girls will be less annoying this year.

 

[Vidi Kitty]

Highschool was meh. Did my work, made and hung out with friends, had a crazy engineering teacher who changed my life forever with his methods.

Be cool to everyone, but learn quick the stable people from the crazies, will save you alot of grief in in the end. I was friends with or at least on good terms with jocks, nerds, gangsters, flunkies, honor students... just for saying hi and being relatively nice. Don't make an effort to stand out just for the attention, but don't hold your self back if you are afraid of the attention.

ALSO start getting an idea of what you want to do in life. You can always switch it up but this is a good place to try some things out. Metal shop was awesome and I recommend it or whatever similar thing you might have for the experience but working with electricity and making circuits ended up being my thing.

EDIT: I'm talking American high school by the way. I forget what the UK equivalent is.

 

[CrematedCube]

As a recent graduate I can give my advice, though it may be biased since I was fairly non-social.

Avoid getting caught up on social groups, select friends on an individual basis.
Be friendly with the teachers, they will be more lenient and classes will be more enjoyable.
Get requirements out of the way as early as possible so you can take interesting classes as a senior, it also helps to already know the class when your friends take them later.

Don't hesitate to take more advanced classes, challenge is good and it keeps out the obnoxious jackasses.
While I didn't join any clubs, (they weren't my thing) colleges put a surprising weight on extracurricular involvement. Do it if you want.
Freshman year was uneventful, sophomore was fun, junior was bland, senior was easy.
Stay humble, acknowledge your inexperience, it separates you from the stereotypical freshman and avoids conflict.

Socialize outside your grade level, above and below, even if it's just quietly listening to upperclassmen, you learn things that way.
Expect the food to be bland and expensive. Bring your own or fast (hunger builds character and keeps you awake)
I personally despise petty, social-driven "relationships". Be genuine or avoid it altogether.
Develop yourself outside of school. Keep a hobby, read up on something that interests you. It keeps you sane.

I could go on, but I'm cutting it short

 

[Wintermoot]

whatever you do DO NOT BE YOURSELF! seriously they are going to bully you for it.

 

[EeveeElectro]

Honestly, I think your happiness will be defined how socially acceptable you look, in some cases at least.
I rarely said a peep, kept my head down, stayed out of trouble but still got bullied constantly for not conforming to the other girls with their fashion and make-up and their scrawny little bodies.
As long as you have a small circle of friends, you'll be able to go through anything.
I can only speak on the behalf of the UK here. If US schools are as bad as they are in movies, then I'd rather be home schooled.

 

[Griffolion]

So yeah, I'm going to high school, it's 10:05 PM where I live and I should probably be asleep. So anyway, I'm not sure what to expect, everybody is telling me to grow up and mature some, but I'm not sure if I want to. My sister says to keep a 3.5 to 4.0 GPA, IDK if I'm sure I can do that. Now for the discussion value. Was it hard for you in high school? Did you get along socially/academically? Are you glad about your high school experience? If you could tell the 14 (or however old you were when starting high school) something what would it be? Don't be a smart ass and say that it would tear the fabric of time. Also, shark week is over, how do you feel about that?

Captcha: ruture frombs.

According to Urban Dictionary, frombes is another word for anal intercourse. Oh captcha you kinky little girl.

Edit: I agree, DON'T stand in the middle of the hallways, in the school middle school where I went to it's easy to it's easy to get caught behind somebody and go fuck all nowhere. This rule is applied 10 fold in a 4 foot hallway.

Edit: We don't have lockers. I know it's weird, I don't see anybody complaining about it though. So just putting that out there. But this thread isn't just for me, if you have advice on lockers by all means post it.

Good luck. High School can be hard as 'fitting in' and 'being popular' are huge deals there. I'd advise you to be yourself and take no crap. Get your head down and work your best, try and make as many friends as possible and do nothing to make enemies (unless avoiding making enemies conflicts with the 'take no crap' rule).

Personally, I got along okay, got better as I got older as you generally begin to fit into the dynamic and hierarchies found in High School, and thus become more savvy with the system. I was one of the 'football crowd' as it was called at my School. It was just a big group of lads who hung around on the tennis courts (used as hard turf football pitches during autumn and winter) and played football. We came from all different cliques and groups just to play it. So it was pretty good.

But one thing I'd say to you is. Don't become someone else just for the sake of fitting in. Find your own clique based on you, not based on what people want you to be. Honestly, you'll be more miserable being accepted for someone you're not than you will be not accepted for who you are. Be true to yourself.

 

[Cheesus333]

Well, in the UK we have a two-tier school system rather than the three-tier one still used in the USA. Although they do have First, Middle and High schools here, Primary and Secondary schools are much more common. I say this because I just finished Secondary school - essentially High and half of Middle school. I suppose now would be a good opportunity for me to look back at the last five years and evaluate whether I enjoyed them or not.

The first thing to remember is that you'll always look forward to being the next year up. In Year 7 I couldn't wait to be a Year 8; in Year 8 I couldn't wait to be a Year 9, etc. At some point someone's going to try and ruin that for you (probably a lot more than once, truth be told) but don't let them cause eager anticipation of what comes next is how you're going to not only survive but enjoy the whole ordeal.

The next thing is that no-one's experience will ever be the same. This applies to everything, but it's useful to note here too. Although it's easy to group all kids in the same age group into one and assume they're all the same, or categorise them into 'nerds' and 'goths' and 'emos' and all that shit, it doesn't mean anything to you as an individual. I'm telling you this because your individual experiences - crazy shit you do with friends, getting in trouble, accidentally forgetting your bag one day and practically pissing yourself trying to run all the way home - is what's gonna make your high school career a pleasant or unpleasant memory for you.

What it boils down to is this: whether you enjoy the next few years or not is entirely down to you. It's not about moving along with the herd to the eventual goal of leaving school forever, or about nailing your target grades[footnote]Definitely try and do as well as you can though, this shit is important[/footnote] but about gradually becoming the person you're going to be for the rest of your life, because this is when you're going to do it. Make sure it's someone you like.

From one going out to the other coming in, I wish you a happy and successful few years.

EDIT: Don't worry too much about getting laid, cause if you try too hard you just won't. Learn from my mistaaaaaaaaaaakes!

 

[Crazy_Dude]

MY first few years I just went through it without paying many attention to my homework. A simple C was enough and I never aimed any higher. Only on some subjects like Algebra and Chemistry I would try since I found those just more intresting.

Aside of my last year of high school I always tried to fit in with the "popular kids" I succeeded decently at that but still was in a tad of a depression. Years later I realise that most of the "popular kids" are major douchebags. And you should just be yourself. Trust me you will be better of that way.

 

[Infernai]

I never understood what "grow up and act mature" meant, does it mean waging war on a country for being next door to one that a few asses came from, does it mean creating a ponzy scheme, or does it mean yelling about not paying taxes

I dont get it

"Grow up and act mature" basically means moving on from the 'pulling hair and name-calling' style of villainy to the 'Master manipulation and Creating untold Misery for everyone you despise' Level of villainy.

Hope that makes sense

 

[ZeroDotZero]

Talk to people. Don't make enemies. Don't be abnormal. Talk to people. Don't be a background character. Talk to people. Talk to people.

This is all there is to it. By the end of it, you will be chummy with practically everyone there. Just do not do anything stupidly weird, high school will never let you live it down.

 

[CaptainTrilby]

Keep your head down for the first term. Stay out of the way of the popular kids. Talk to people, just talk to people. Make them laugh, find some common ground. Don't do French, you will regret it. Learn to speak in public, it'll do wonders for your confidence. Be civil. If your interests are a bit off the wall, don't show them straight away, get a good network of friends before you announce your love for obscure Eastern European animation. Prepare for rumours.

 

[The Funslinger]

My sister says to keep a 3.5 to 4.0 GPA, IDK if I'm sure I can do that.

Screw that. Do it anyway. If you "I'm not sure" your way through C averages, you will never forgive yourself. So don't let that happen. Kids these days don't realize how much it actually means, thinking they can get along fine if they have a <3.0 GPA and maybe never go to college, and they probably can, but if you can go for more than fine, do it. Don't dig yourself into a hole freshman year. Work as hard as you can and stay on top of everything. That'll carry over to the next three years. And remember- the next four years will change the course of your entire life, so all the work and long nights it takes are worth it.

First few years, I was averaging Cs in the majority of my classes, final year I got most of them up to Bs and As, but I'm still waiting on my actual exam results.

To Myself: Punch that guy in the face the second time as well, on that trip to france, don't push through the McDonald's line to see your friend and don't be at odds with the majority of people [kind of fixed that in the last two years too, but still].

 

[skittlepie345]

Hey, i'm going to be a junior in the fall, so let me get my old man voice, and you sit down and listen.

Freshman year is easy, though I'm in a different grade system than you are. (K-6,7-9,10-12)
Take advanced (AP) classes in your sophomore and junior year. Yes, they are hard, but dear lord are they worth the college credit you get if you do well on the AP tests.

So socially, make friends, don't do anything you're uncomfortable with, etc. Academically get a planner if your school doesn't already provide one. Get everything done.

And for the love of all that is holy, DO NOT FALL BEHIND. Seriously, unless you're in the hospital or to contagious to go to school, do not take a sick day. It's not worth it.

Stick to these rules, high school should end up being only slightly more difficult than making a sandwich.

Let's see, advice to myself...

Do your summer homework. Seriously, you have a month left, get on it.

 

[manic_depressive13]

Zuh?

I'm not familiar with the American schooling system. In Australia high school starts when you are around 11 or 12 years old. Also what is a GPA? Is it like GPM? I hope you will be making more than 4 gold per minute.

Anyway, just remember that grades aren't everything.

 

[Flamezdudes]

What ages are the students in High School in the USA?

 

[lumenadducere]

Be nice to people. Even if you're more on the shy or quiet side, being the "nice guy" and having everyone at least know you for that is definitely not a bad way to go. It's basically what I did and I never had any problems, even between all the different social groups. Note that this doesn't mean let people walk all over you - don't let them copy homework or stupid crap like that.

Academically, it's easy. It may not seem like it at the time, but it really is as long as you're willing to do a little work. If your school offers them, take the honors and AP classes, even if you're not planning on going to college. Circumstances may change and you may decide to go, but even if that doesn't happen then you're going to avoid all the goofballs who don't give a damn and will be the loudmouths who disrupt class every given second. As fun as those people can sometimes be, they get annoying really fast. IIRC it's the third year when you get to pick classes, so choose subjects that interest you, not just ones that everyone else is taking for an easy A.

Other than that, as someone else said it's really what you make of it. Hell, a lot of life is...I guess high school is where you first begin to see it. Spend time in clubs or groups that you're interested in, talk to your teachers if you like them, and generally take the extra ten minutes or so out of your day to spend time with people.

 

[lumenadducere]

What ages are the students in High School in the USA?

15-18, usually. Depending on some factors kids can start as low as 14, but usually that's the age range. I think it's the same as college in the UK - it's essentially the school before university. Although in the USA we use "college" to refer to university. Not sure how that happened.

 

[Sethzard]

So what grades does high-school cover in the states? I've been in "high-school" for the past four years (over here it covers years 7-12, myself currently being in year 10) and I've heard that the system's a bit different in the US.

I guess all I can say is make a good first impression, depending on how well you get along with teachers and all the other kids in your year (I'm guessing you're going to a co-ed school. If so, be thankful for it, I'm not saying my school's bad but it gets a bit wierd after a while going to a same-sex school) high-school can either be a great time or a living hell.As for grades, all you can do is do your best, listen to your teachers and try and avoid stress...neither schooling nor your social-life should dominate your time, they should both just be in equal balance (because there is a bigger workload...it's managable and somewhat more flexible though).

I think that high school covers the equivalent of year 9-upper 6th/13

 

[SirDeadly]

I'll post my experience of year 8, I'm Australian so it's probably a completely different system. Year 8 was pretty average really, it was quite boring but I did make a lot of new friends. The teachers seem to suck by now half way through my final year we talk about the most inappropriate things in class (one of my teachers too his pants off (he had board shorts on underneath) joking around about his fashion sense). Don't push yourself too hard, B's should be fine and won't limit your future subject choices. Start pushing next year when you need to achieve.

PS: You may hear a LOT about people having shit loads of homework, I'm a senior and I literally do nothing. I get straight B's.