I personally love school! (Other than the stress) I strongly believe that school should be an enjoyable experience, and here are my tips to HAGSY!
Before School Starts:
- Get all your forms ready. Don't just block school out just because it's summer. Make sure to turn in any forms needed for the upcoming school year: parking passes, off-campus passes, etc.
- Get your schedule. Find out how and when you can get your schedule. If you're going to a new school, familiarize yourself with your classes' locations before school starts. It's okay to be lost during the first week of school, but it's even better to be prepared.
- AP Classes? If you're taking AP classes, check your school's website to see if you have any summer assignments! Most of the time, AP classes have summer assignments due on the first day of school, and they don't take "I didn't know we had a summer assignment" well.
- Get ready. High school doesn't typically have school supply lists. Some classes might require some special supplies (ex: math might require a particular calculator), but otherwise, you know how you like to stay organized. Do what you need to stay organized.
- Get organized. Just because school hasn't started doesn't mean that you can't get a head start on organization! I love using an agenda for school and I live by Google Calendar. (Detailed blog post on organization coming soon!) Figure out how you prefer to stay organized: whether it be by color-coding, just writing the due dates, or what you need to do each day.
- Fill your backpack. There are some things I always have in my backpack, no matter what:
- Hand sanitizer: you don't want to be that girl who's never at school because she's always sick
- Tampons: there's always going to be a friend who's on her period. She'll thank you!
- Mini hairbrush: #LongHairProbz
- Tissues
- Extra pencils & pens: just in case I forget my beloved pencil pouch
- Hair ties and headband
- Spare change: you might have to print something out from the library or realize you forgot lunch.
- Extra batteries: If your teachers don't have extra batteries or calculators, you don't want to be taking a test when your calculator dies.
- Student ID & off-campus pass
- Go to orientation. If there's an orientation for you, go to it! You can learn lots of information about the school and ask any questions you have.
- Make a good first impression. Trust me, first impressions are a big deal. Wear your favorite outfit. You are at school to learn, so don't just focus on your first impression for your peers; the way you act in class matters. Be polite and respectful, smile, speak in class, observe how others act, and listen to the teacher. It's embarrassing to be called out, especially during the first week of school. Appear confident. When you're confident, others can tell. (More on confidence in a future post!)
- Make a friend in each of your classes. Chances are, you'll be doing fun, cheesy "get to know each other" activities on the first day of school. Listen and talk to others! You might not become BFFs with your entire class right away, but eventually, find at least one good friend in each of your classes. Follow your classmates on Twitter and Insta after you've started talking to them. Once you become close, exchange each others' numbers. Having a friend in each class makes it so much easier when you need to pair up for a project. It's also great to be able to text someone asking what you missed in class when you're absent.
- Join clubs/sports. Join any club that sounds interesting to you! Attend clubs' interest meetings to find out more about the club. Is it a big club? How often do they meet? What do they do? When do they meet? Find out all their information and decide whether a club is a good fit for you and your schedule. If it's not for you, you don't have to be a member, but at least you gave it a shot! Clubs are a fun way to involved in school, meet people with similar interests as you, continue doing something you love, and colleges love hearing that you were involved. Don't join a club just because you want to put it on your college app, you won't enjoy the club if you don't love what you do in it! Try out for your favorite sport. Some sports accept everyone, like cross country. At my school, about half the school does cross country, so it's a great way to meet people and stay fit!
- Meet lots of people. With clubs, sports and classes- there are so many opportunities to meet new people! Make sure to follow your friends on social media and get their numbers. Eat lunch with friends and just be yourself. Don't just stick to one group, it's great to have friends in lots of different groups! It's fine to be close with one group, but be friendly with everyone. You don't have to be BFFs with everyone, but it's great to know that you can start a conversation with lots of people. High school is a great time to meet lots of different people.
- Set a schedule for yourself. Set a schedule for yourself and stick to it! Whether you wake up 30 minutes every day to get ready, or 10 minutes... stick to it. Whether you start homework right after school or after eating a snack, stick to it.
- Go to sleep. Being busy is awesome! Clubs, sports, school- you're having a blast. Of course, being the busy bee you are, you still need your beauty sleep! Set a sleep schedule and aim to get at least 7.5 hours of sleep each night.
- Be productive. Doing your math homework while watching Gossip Girl might be fun. But what happens when you're on your third episode of the night and still on problem #3? Get off social media and do your homework at a desk, then you can watch Gossip Girl afterwards relaxed.
- Study. I don't care if you didn't need to study in middle school; middle school is nothing compared to high school. Study and stay on top of things. Always do your homework to make sure you get good grades. Grades do matter in high school. Don't have that freshman year that you'll regret and hate yourself for the rest of your high school years!
- Stay fit. It's easy to get lazy after a long day of school, but stay active! As we all learned from Legally Blonde, exercise makes you happy. If you don't play a sport, that's fine! Just make sure to stay fit. 30 minutes of your day to reduce stress, re-energize yourself and make yourself happier is well worth it. I love CafeMom's 30 minute cardio workouts!
- Attend school events. Friday nights mean football games! There's no better way to spend your Friday night than cheering on your football team with the rest of your school and hanging out with your friends! High school knows how to throw some awesome school events. Don't miss out on fun events just because you're studying or too lazy. Balance is key!
- Eat healthy. There's nothing worse than eating an unhealthy lunch and feeling tired and sluggish during your afternoon classes. Always have a fruit or vegetable! (More on healthy snacks and lunches to come soon!)
- Stay hydrated. 99% chance you aren't drinking enough water. Ice water refreshes you like no other! During those cold winter days, hot water is perfect for those sore throats.
- Balance yourself. With school, clubs and sports, don't forget some much needed "me time!" Treat yourself to a nice Friday night in reading a book or a Sunday brunch date with a friend. Don't forget that high school is supposed to be "the best years of your life!" (other than college!)
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