With the 2018-2019 school year’s end quickly approaching, our seniors are preparing to venture off to college and experience life from a new perspective. As a senior myself, I know first hand the tears and laughter that are senior year. I had the privilege of knowing what to expect my senior year due to my older brother’s adventures in high school. As not everyone has an older sibling who is enrolled at ACP, this article highlights three general tips to help guide you through your years at ACP.

1. Have school spirit

I understand how cliche this tip is, but showing your school spirit at sports events, our International Knights Festival, the Color War, and many other school-wide events allows you to meet new people, develop new perspectives, and have an overall good time in high school. Looking back on my earlier years, I wish I had gone to the Homecoming game my freshman year and ventured to the Color War with my friends my junior year. High school is the time to make friends and bond over the wonderful activities school has to offer.

2. Choose your classes wisely

Although there are many required classes, just like there are in college, choosing classes that you find new and exciting are critical to your overall high school experience. If you find yourself bored in a math class or just not interested in science, you now know that next year and in college you should look for more options for those classes. There are many options of different classes per subject, and you should be able to pick a class that interests you and sparks an initial love for that subject. Make sure to use all your resources, such as your counselors, parents, and teachers to find what class is best for you.

3. Be positive!

Personally, high school has been a very positive experience for me, but this doesn’t mean I never had a bad moment. The rough moments allowed me to lean on my friends and family and search for another positive experience to outweigh the negative one. I found that staying positive, whether it be about a class or an assignment, has allowed me to acknowledge both the good and bad in life but still grow from each experience.

Knights, my advice to you as you grow and learn at ACP is a simple quote: “Life is too short to wake up with regrets. So love the people who treat you right, forgive the ones who don’t, and believe that everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said it’d be easy, they just promised it’d be worth it.” – Dr. Seuss.