I have a few words of advice for everyone who is NOT graduating June 1st and will continue to pursue their education in the high school of Stoughton. You are welcome.

Don’t have friends? Just talk to people you don’t know. (yes, it’s that simple)
I don’t care what kind of personality you have. If you don’t have friends in a class, just talk to someone. Literally anyone will do. Freshman year, I walked into my first hour (gym class) and realized I didn’t have any friends to share the experience with. It was probably the worst class to not have anyone to chat with, so… I just started talking with a girl who I was standing next to at the time. I talked to her the first day, then the day after that, and the day after that. I hadn’t ever spoken to her before, and I still made a friend by being the most obnoxious person ever. I didn’t even know her name for the first two weeks, and we’re still friends.

Struggling with English class? Take a German or Spanish class.
I need to clarify that I cannot speak Spanish. I can speak very broken clumps of words related to the unit we’re currently learning about, but I cannot speak Spanish. HOWEVER… I think it was a valuable class to take. Maybe not for learning Spanish (even though, yes, I did actually learn another language by taking it) but for actually increasing my understanding of the English language. I’m not joking. If your teacher decides to teach you Spanish/German grammar, which they should because it’s a language class, it will expand your understanding of English grammar. Listen to me, because you aren’t taught English from the ground up like you’re taught Spanish or German. Learning a new language like that will actually fix some misconceptions about English (I AM NOT LYING).

Think school is dumb? Join a club.
This is so generic, but I’m so serious about this. I don’t think you need to join like 16 clubs or really expand your horizons by doing something you’ve never done before. Sure, I guess it’s great if you’re really into those horizons of yours, but that doesn’t really matter. Just join a club. Join literally anything you can dedicate your energy to that’s not school. I will praise the Norse Star because, of course, I’m in it, but nothing changed my life more than joining the Norse Star my sophomore year. I very suddenly started doing things that actually impacted real life. Clubs will have you doing actual things and activities that will ultimately add more meaning to your life than trying to get an A on a vocab quiz. Just join a club, and of course, join the Norse Star when applications are open again next year.

Having an awful day? Don’t drown alone.
You’re gonna have some really AWFUL moments. The worst time of my life was January of my junior year. Put simply, depression and anxiety = felt like I wasn’t going to make it to February. I’m not saying that everyone’s going to experience that, but I am saying that everyone’s going to have some honestly terrible experiences at some point. My advice? Talk to someone. I know it’s so generic and cliche and probably the most difficult thing you could do. Here’s some more advice: you don’t have to say much. Literally just like three words could change your life if you say them to someone who cares. And no matter what you think, yes, you have people who care about you. At the very least, you’ve got cheerleaders built into the school system that are being paid to care about you: the counselors. It’s really generic advice, but every person in the world deserves at least some effort put into them, even if the effort comes from you.

Hate school? It’s only 4 years long.
There’s probably some wisened old sage up in the mountains that would claim it’s a journey, and you should cherish it, and it really grows you as a person, and blah blah blah. That’s great, and it’s true, but if you don’t feel like it’s true, then who cares? It’s only four years. Do what you can. It seriously goes faster than you think.

Final words:

• Take a study hall when you can (prioritize this over a “fun” class, especially in junior/senior year)
• Look at what you college will accept for AP credits BEFORE saying you’ll take the AP exam
• As long as you still get your assignments in, procrastination isn’t actually that bad… so keep scrolling, I guess! If you really want to improve yourself, look at some screen-time limits. They did actually help me.

Also here are my roses and thorns: