High school is a pivotal moment for everyone, even if in the grand scheme of things, it didn’t seem to amount to a whole lot. Why? Easy! Your teenage years are a hugely important time for development, for your personality and not just in terms of your education and future career. The choices you make now, the experiences you have, and what you do with your time will shape who you are and who you’ll become. While that personal journey is ultimately up to the teen in question, there are ways to improve your overall experience from day one so that you prepare yourself better for your life ahead:
1st Year of High School
This first year can be daunting, so focus mostly on your schoolwork, making new friends, and trying out a few different clubs or societies to see what you like. There’s no pressure at the moment, but now is a good time to get into some good habits that will help you throughout your high school, and later education or career efforts. You can keep track of your GPA, for example, with CampusReel’s high school GPA calculator for free. Staying updated on your GPA can help you take note of your efforts and make changes if there’s an issue. Other than that, focus on having fun, learning, and making new friends.
2nd Year of High School
This year you’ll want to cut back on some of those clubs and after-school programs to focus on the ones you enjoy the most and get the most value from. Instead, you’ll want to work your way up and take on more responsibility on the fewer programs you’re enrolled in. Now is also a good time to start investigating your options in terms of college. This doesn’t mean making any hard or fast decisions. Instead, it means investigating the different programs that are out there, and what you can do with them.
3rd Year of High School
Now is when you should start moving up in the societies and clubs you’re a participant in, so that you’re in a leadership position. This will look great on your college admissions essay and application, and is also a great way to get some essential work skills before you even start college. You’ll also want to start shortlisting university options andlook into possibly taking on college-level courses for extra credit. If you have any passions that don’t have a simple avenue, start putting those passions to work in projects. If you can submit that work to a competition, even better.
4th Year of High School
This is when you’ll want to take a bit of a step back in any leadership roles you have in your societies and start training up the next generation. You’ll want to step back so you can focus on getting the best grades possible, study for the SAT or ACT, and of course putting together your college applications.
