How to Get The Most Out of your High School Experience

Have you ever felt down or ready to give up? Here are some tips to stay motivated through tough times and have a good teenage life. 

Do not listen to what anyone else has to say. No one’s opinion matters because you are your own person. It is your life and you determine what life you want to live. People will try to tear you down all the time because once someone sees you have gotten yourself together, people will try to make you feel bad about yourself because they are jealous, and they want what you have. The best way to handle that is just to stay true to yourself and do not let it affect you, because they do not live your life; they do not know your life out of school.

Always do your best in school. It is not always going to be easy. Nothing is. If you do your best in school, it will always be a promising investment in your future. Colleges always look back at your grades throughout your school career. High school matters the most, so you do not want to slack off in high school. You can get into some good colleges if you work hard on your schoolwork. Never be afraid to start early when thinking about what you want to do for a career and your future. If you start to look early, more options will be open to you, opposed to if you started last minute when you will not have very many opportunities to look for and help you along the way. 

Build a good support system for yourself. You always want to surround yourself with good people. Doherty junior, Korrina Aguilar says, “Have a good support system on your side. It is extremely important to always have people on your side to push you up and keep you on your toes.” It is important to always have people who want the best and push you because that will help you stay motivated. If you do not have a good support system, it might be hard to stay motivated to do things because no one’s supporting you in the big or small accomplishments you have made.

Do not rush to get into a job right away. Doherty junior, Tylor Huff says, “I wish that I would have waited on getting a job to have more time to enjoy the experience of high school.” Every teen deserves a good high school experience, such as attending dances, extracurricular activities, and more. High school should not be completely focused on schoolwork. Schoolwork is important, yes, but you should also have fun while you can. Before you get into the adult world and you must pay bills and have the major responsibility of working a full-time job, take the opportunity to try different classes,  go outside your box, and try something new before you cannot.

Do not rush into dating until you know for sure that you are ready. Just because you see everyone else in a relationship does not mean you need to be in one yet. Relationships take a lot of work and time to develop. Relationships take a lot of communication and that both are putting in work to make it work. When you enter a relationship, it is no longer all about you and you will have to make sacrifices that might not be easy for each other. 

Doherty sophomore Gabriella Pacheco says, “When you rush into a relationship you don’t really get to take the time to get to know that person. Get to know the person before making anything official because then you would be able to decide if they are the person you want to be with or not. Yes, we all have crushes, but that does not mean they are our forever or even meant to be in our life. You want something real and long-term, not just something to pass time. A lot of times, people rush into relationships because they desperately want one, but true love comes when you least expect it. Love comes to you; you don’t go to love.” 

Love is going to come to you when you least expect it, so the best thing to do is focus on you and be patient. You still have plenty of years and time to find your significant other. When you are in a relationship, they take work and responsibility like everything else. You are only in high school. Focusing on school grades is more important so you can get into colleges or find a good job.

Enjoy the time you have now while you still can. When you grow up you will have to work, pay bills, get groceries, and all the adult-like things. While you are still a teenager you only have school for a certain number of hours. Then maybe an hour or two of homework then you are free. Doherty senior, Mara Taylor says, “I had more time to do what I wanted as a kid.”  Take advantage of that while you can go play games with friends, go outside, or do something productive. You only have so many free summers left of not having to do a whole lot while you are in school. When you transfer over into adult life, those freedoms might go away.