Starting high school, in general, is an exciting time, and coming into a new school where there is a new environment and lots of new people can be very challenging. Not having friends or an idea of what you’re coming into at school is definitely one of my fears, as I came from Boogle Junior High last year, and this is my first year in high school. Adapting to lots of new things is very challenging, but is not impossible.

One thing you can do to ensure that you are ready for high school is to get all your supplies ahead of time. Something you Do Not want to do is come to school on the first day and not have any of the materials you need for class. Most of the time your teachers will give you a supply list. If they don’t, just bring the basics like notebooks, pencils, folders, and maybe a binder until they tell you if you need certain things. Also, when getting supplies, don’t go overboard. Only get the supplies you need; I know you want to look cool with your 30 highlighters, but are you really going to need all of them? If you really want to get the hippest most fly supplies, then go for it, but in the long run, it would be better if you stuck to the materials that are more practical.

My next advice to you is to make good habits and learn new ones. For example, I was late once already and another time woke up five minutes before I had to leave for school. Don’t be like me if you struggle with waking up from school; set your alarm and maybe even put your phone across the room so you have to get up to turn it off. If you really don’t want to be late for school ever during summer, you can practice waking up and going to bed early. Next: study habits- if you were the kid that never studied in junior high and just barely cruised with a passing grade, that has to change. Some things you can do are staying away from your phone while studying or even join a study group. Studying will really help your grades and help you gain more and more knowledge.

Something that really helped me is having a positive mindset. If you are going through your days thinking negative thoughts, your days might not be the best that they could be. If you start having a positive mindset, you will notice that your attitude has changed toward things. Maybe before, you really dreaded going to math, and now that you put yourself in a better mindset.  Even though you might still not really be strong at math, you have a more positive perspective on it. Obviously, some days you are not going to feel like being positive and that’s okay; we all have our off days.

Lastly, don’t stress too much about fitting in right away and getting amazing grades. Humans were not meant to be perfect: we all are going to make mistakes. Just try your hardest not to slack off and don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. I guarantee most of the people starting high school are just as scared as you. Be yourself and keep pursuing. Go, Knights!