I can still remember the summer before freshman year.

As I watched the seniors leave

and tell all the underclassman that it goes fast and to enjoy it, I thought to myself, “ I am gonna
do just that: enjoy it.” I believed that if I counted every day high school would go by slowly. But
now, four years later, here I am writing my advice for the incoming freshman and
underclassman.
High school can be such a monumental time in young peoples’ lives. Time and time
again I’ve heard that high school is just four years, and that it really doesn’t matter; however,
I’ve noticed that the ones who have told me that are the people who have moved back to their
hometown and still attend many high school activities. This isn’t a bad thing, though. However, I
believe the years in high school are important.
High school is the time in teens’ life where they can try new things, learn from their
mistakes, and still be a kid. They’re not supposed to have everything figured out in high school,
that’s why they have teachers, coaches, and parents there to try and guide them along the path.
Hopefully they are the ones to push them to do better on assignments, go harder in practice,
encourage them to try new activities and to be there when they fail from time to time. Don’t see
these people as threats. They are there to help, and once teens accept and respect them, they will
respect you, too.
The most important lesson I’ve learned in high school is when to walk away. I’ve walked
away from activities that I wasn’t enjoying, ended relationships that weren’t healthy, and focused
on the goals I have set for myself. This was, honestly, one of the hardest lessons I have had to
learn. If you find yourself unhappy and secretly hating something you are involved in, there is no
disgrace in walking away from it. You do not have to live up to others’ standards, but you should
be living up to your own, personal standards. Throughout high school you should form a set of
standards your grandma would be proud of.
Another piece of advice I can offer is this: prioritize. Make time for the activities in your
life that really matter. For me that was my family and my faith. I will never regret the times that I
made a special trip to see my grandparents. I do, however, regret the times that I’ve put school
over going to see my brother when he was stationed in Wichita. I’m not saying that school
activities are not important , but that family is just as important. For instance, my volleyball team
was my family, and the memories on the court with them are ones I will remember for a lifetime.
Don’t take your classmates for granted. Honestly, you don’t know anything that’s going
on in their life. They’re trying to figure it all out, too. Coming from a class of 12 girls and 4
boys, it’s a lot easier to be able to laugh with others and not care about dumb drama or rude
comments. They probably don’t even mean half of what they say or complain about, they’re just
having a bad day. Be the bigger person and choose to love them despite their sarcastic, snarky
remarks.
Looking back on it now, high school made a large impact on my life. Not because I’m the
person will all the sports records, or with the highest GPA, because I’m definitely not, but
because of the lessons I learned from my mistakes and the friendships I made along the way.
These are the things that will propel me into the future. A few last little tips of advice I can give
are these: Be bold, sing loudly, volunteer as much as you can, always have your volume turned
down when searching YouTube, and smile often.