Dear Katie,

This blog post is definitely an interesting one for me to write in terms of my own self-reflection. As I sit down to put my advice for you into words, I think about my own transition and what I wish someone told me at the time. The first couple months of my freshman year of high school were nothing but challenging, confusing, and even discouraging. I was coming from middle school where I felt super comfortable and breezed through classes, getting an A with minimal effort. Then high school hit, the school was huge, I constantly got lost, and class was hard (Mr. Pierce’s Seminar English Nine, to be exact). Overall, it was a huge transition that took time for me to adjust and realign. In the end, however, I fell in love with my school and shed tears when it came time to say goodbye on the final day of senior year. I say all this not to scare you for the first weeks of high school (everyone has a really different experience…Molly was perfectly fine!) but to highlight how different the transition my college has been. Sure, it has not been easy move away from home and meet new people, and I have had my fair share of emotional breakdowns, it has been notably easier than my freshman year of high school which is contrary to what you might assume. I think what it comes down to is at 18 years old versus 14 years old, I have a better grasp on who I am, greater self-confidence, have leadership and academic experiences under my belt, can cope with stress and adversity much better, and am confident in my capacity to learn new things. All of this to say, high school will be four extremely transformative years in your life, and on the eve of your first day, it can feel overwhelming. Take a deep breath and instead of feeling scared, feel excited. Feel excited for the new passions you are going to discover and chase wholeheartedly, feel excited for the new friends you will meet and the amazing teachers you will grow close to, and feel excited to grow into yourself and develop dreams for the future.

Just for fun, here is my  homecoming freshman year to graduation senior year…

 

 

With all that said, I surveyed my friends and collected this list of advice for freshman year of high school:

Maria:Have a social life.

Abbey:Don’t be afraid to ask teachers for help.

Sarah: Don’t be intimidated by upperclassmen because they really do not care about you.

Another Sarah: Get involved! Join clubs.

Jess: Do not take on too much. Find a balance between clubs and AP classes… you can’t do it all!

Molly: Become involved in a club that you are passionate about and can stick with and eventually hold a leadership position. When it comes to college applications, dedication to a few organizations looks better than joining a million different clubs.

Neela: It’s always ok to be unsure about the future

Me: Get to know your teachers! I know I am echoing advice above, but your teachers are such a great resource academically but also personally. Having faculty that I knew I could talk to about anything made such a difference.

until next time,

 

 

 

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”– Aristotle