It Will be Over Before you Know it

There is one main thing that I think all high school students should know. (There is more than one thing of course, but I know you are already on information overload so I decided to keep it simple.) I don’t just want to tell you to work hard while you are in high school, although that is important if you want to have success in your life.

No, I think that one of the most important things that most students fail to realize is how fast it will all be over. At the beginning of high school, four years seemed like an eternity to me. The next thing I knew, I was walking across a stage with a diploma in my hand.

Drama will pass in a flash, but so will the delights
Sometimes it is a great comfort to know that high school will not last forever. Overall I really enjoyed high school, but there are some parts that I am glad I will never have to repeat. If school is really difficult for you, or if you are dealing with a lot of drama, or even if you’re just really excited to leave home and head off to college, remember that high school won’t last forever.

However, there is another side to the story. While the bad parts of high school will be over in a flash, so will the good parts. My encouragement to you is to make the most of it while it lasts. You really do not want to leave high school with regrets about things you wish you had gotten involved in.

Some students do not think about life after high school until their junior or senior year, and this can be a big mistake. You need to be thinking about your options all throughout high school so you are able to make an informed decision when the time comes.

Too many people get to senior year with no clue of what they want to do and end up going to college for the wrong reasons. College is not the best choice for everybody, and it can be a big mistake (and a huge waste of money) to enter into college unprepared.

College bound? Application process takes time
Personally, I decided that going to college was the best decision for my life, and I think this is the right decision for most of you. Even though going on to college was my intention all throughout high school, I failed to realize how little time I had and how much work was involved in the application process.

I wish I had started much sooner. I wasn’t able to enjoy my senior year as much as I would have liked, because I was so busy with school work, plus filling out applications and touring colleges.

Even all of you freshmen and sophomores out there should be aware of your options and begin seriously thinking about what you want to do when you are done with high school. If you want to go to college, you should start considering what you want in a school so you can narrow your search and not end up doing extra work to apply to too many schools (like I did).

Finally, here is one last thing I wish I’d known when I was a junior in high school. Did you guys know that there are tons of scholarships that juniors can apply for? I always thought only seniors were eligible, but that is definitely not true. There are several online scholarship search engines, and I recommend that you sign up for one or two and keep your eyes out for scholarships for juniors. And scholarships are not only for smart students either! There are all sorts of things that can make you eligible, so don’t count yourself out before you even look.

Anyway, I wish you all luck, and I hope you have a great school year!