Beginning freshman year can be an exciting as well as frightening time. Supposedly, your four years in high school are the most important of your life, so why not make the most of it? Think about it, you get to shape who you are and prepare for the life ahead. At the same time, you get the opportunity to have a lot of fun and meet many different people. The following tips will help you to thrive both academically and socially so that you will ultimately survive your freshman year

The first and most important step is to join a school activity. You might question this, but think about the benefits. Not only are you participating in a school related activity and becoming involved, but you get the chance to meet new people. Knowing upperclassmen and even your fellow classmates makes the transition from middle school to high school a lot easier. Imagine the first day when you had trouble opening your locker or couldn’t find one or more of your classes. Wouldn’t it be comforting to know that there are people you can depend upon for help? Even if you don’t end up needing help, it is always nice to have an upperclassman acknowledge your existence in the hallways throughout the day. If you haven’t joined a school activity yet, it’s not too late! Ask in the activities office for further details on when clubs meet.

To make life a lot less stressful, one might want to consider the next step to becoming successful during freshman year which is simply to be organized- something a lot easier said than done. Teachers notice which students are unorganized and more often than not, the students who are more organized make a better impression right from the beginning. Wouldn’t it be easier to start off the year on the right foot by writing homework assignments in your agenda planner, rather than forgetting your assignments and making a bad impression on your teacher? In doing so, your teacher leaves school with the mindset that you are irresponsible. So in the long run, writing in your agenda planner and keeping all of your papers in folders really does pay off.

One of the most frustrating parts of high school is just getting to your classes. Sometimes it is hard to get to classes on time, especially when you have to go from one end of the building to the other. Trust me, everyone encounters difficulty in getting to their classes, but that in no way gives anyone the right to push people in order to get there. Don’t push other students so that you can get to your class on time. Not only does that make it unpleasant for the person that you push, but it may also tick off the wrong upperclassman. Believe me, that is not how you want to begin your freshman year! So in other words, be respectful in the hall; walk as fast as you can but don’t push. If someone in front of you is walking slowly, ask him or her politely to walk faster or attempt to get around him or her.

Last but just as important, ask for help when you need it! If you don’t understand something in a class, talk to the teacher or ask questions during class. It is a lot easier to enjoy learning when you actually comprehend what you are being taught. Why spend time at home trying to figure out something that you didn’t understand in class when you had a golden opportunity right then and there to ask your teacher? Many of the teachers at Roosevelt are more than willing to help you. Take advantage of this! If you can’t get help from your teacher, ask an upperclassmen that you know has taken the class for help or even people in your class. School is so much more enjoyable when you can be at ease in your classes and not have to play catch- up with the material being taught to you.

If you follow these tips throughout the year, your freshman year (and even following years in high school) may be much easier. Who knows? Maybe high school will turn out to be the four most important years of your life!