Upvote Upvoted 14 Downvote Downvoted
1 2
High school tips
posted in Off Topic
1
#1
0 Frags +

Starting junior year on Tuesday. Taking a break from tf2 due to my pretty hard class load. Anybody got some tips/advice so I don't lose my mind this year?

Starting junior year on Tuesday. Taking a break from tf2 due to my pretty hard class load. Anybody got some tips/advice so I don't lose my mind this year?
2
#2
11 Frags +

Get a hobby besides High School to relax and distract yourself. Ideally one with scheduled times, like some kind of physical training, so you don't delve too deep into it and forget school over it.

Get a hobby besides High School to relax and distract yourself. Ideally one with scheduled times, like some kind of physical training, so you don't delve too deep into it and forget school over it.
3
#3
23 Frags +

If you aren't on a team sport, try one. Cross country is fun as shit. Have fun, make friends, don't ever fall more than week behind on school work if you can.

If you aren't on a team sport, try one. Cross country is fun as shit. Have fun, make friends, don't ever fall more than week behind on school work if you can.
4
#4
11 Frags +

Stay focused and don't skip your classes if you want to finish it well
Go out often when you have time, try to distract yourself if you feel like you're getting tired of studying

Stay focused and don't skip your classes if you want to finish it well
Go out often when you have time, try to distract yourself if you feel like you're getting tired of studying
5
#5
6 Frags +

Tennis is really good to have a break because you improve fast and you don't need a whole team to play with you, only a partner (ideally of your skill bracket) + little to no risk to hurt yourself which is always a plus if you wanna keep up with studies

Tennis is really good to have a break because you improve fast and you don't need a whole team to play with you, only a partner (ideally of your skill bracket) + little to no risk to hurt yourself which is always a plus if you wanna keep up with studies
6
#6
36 Frags +

Study at the library, there's literally nothing to do there so all you can do to pass the time is to study.

Study at the library, there's literally nothing to do there so all you can do to pass the time is to study.
7
#7
4 Frags +

If you have free time at school, do some homework/studying. Also, make sure you finish your homework/studying early. Junior year's rough and making sure you get your homework done while getting sleep is very good.

Also as others said, do a sport/hobby; it's really nice to relieve stress through it.

Show Content
also don't be me where you play tf2 until 2 or later in the morning and don't do hw until 10 minutes before class
If you have free time at school, do some homework/studying. Also, make sure you finish your homework/studying early. Junior year's rough and making sure you get your homework done while getting sleep is very good.

Also as others said, do a sport/hobby; it's really nice to relieve stress through it.

[spoiler] also don't be me where you play tf2 until 2 or later in the morning and don't do hw until 10 minutes before class [/spoiler]
8
#8
50 Frags +

torrent ned's declassified school survival guide

torrent ned's declassified school survival guide
9
#9
1 Frags +

school/life > tf2/videogames

school/life > tf2/videogames
10
#10
newbie.tf
23 Frags +

I posted this on another thread a few days ago. Has some non-high-school stuff, but this is the advice I can give you:

full disclosure: only 21, but i can provide the perspective of someone who wasted a ton of time in highschool that is currently a junior in college. enjoying high school/getting your shit in line for college is going to be the main focus of this post. i'll start with that stuff

- take more band/art/whatever-extracurricular-you-like classes in high school. you are better at computers than your future programming teacher i promise. do stuff you enjoy in your electives, and learn the other stuff much more efficiently online. taking "fun" electives allows you to make friends with similar interests to you while giving you a break from the monotonous hellhole that is high school.

- want a scholarship for college but you aren't good at the ACT/SAT/whatever? there are lots of things you can do. play an instrument and join the athletic bands program, work on writing (for scholarship essays), look up ways to get scholarships and stuff from everything and everywhere: from your university as a whole, the specific college you're in, your highschool, local churches, charities, whatever.

- don't panic about grades in high school too much, they only matter marginally

- look up the status of job markets for things that you are working for in your major.

- find a state school that has a really good program for what you are getting into. for me, the university of memphis (which is where i'm from) has a stellar school of music. i wouldn't be going here for some of the other schools, but i can get the education i need much cheaper here than some fancy liberal arts college, with pretty much the same quality (if not better).

- don't take test-prep classes (ACT prep, SAT prep, whatever). these classes will condition you to doze off/ shut down during the real deal. those classes are hell. it's the intellectual equivalent of the word "damp". just take the tests at least once a year (starting in like 7/8th grade, or now if you are past that). that's what i did, and i ended up with a 32 on the ACT (despite not being particularly good at school). being able to put what you learn throughout your middle/high school career into the perspective of the big tests is a seriously beneficial skill. if you're going to pretty much any state school, this is the number that makes or breaks your academic scholarship offers.

- take AP classes. you're going to be forced to take a class during that time slot anyways. might as well make it count. taking AP/ dual credit classes just means you don't have to do it again in college. so you can have it easy in highschool then have it hard in college or just have it hard in high school. you also save a good amount of money. the choice is p obvious in hindsight, but no one ever phrased it this way to me. i came into college with ~13 credits (which is still a decent amount), and every semester that I look at the plan and see something i already did in highschool, i thank former-kevin. i just wish i did more. it would have made it much easier to focus on classes within my major.

- talk to the guy/girl. assuming you're not weird/creepy about it, the worst they'll say is "no". if they're rude about it, they were shitty from the get-go. i only started doing this late in high school. i didn't get any "yes"s (i only asked a couple people and was a p big weirdo tbh) but who gives a shit? that stuff would still be bugging me if i hadn't just asked.

- start your resume now. it will be so much better when you need it if you start it now. really. go do it now. fill it out as you go.

moving on to general tips

- eat healthy. this is something i only started doing recently. after a month you realize "oh crap why did i never do this earlier?" eat some dang vegetables. cook some good food every once in a while. i've recently started looking at every food as having a tasty to bad-for-me ratio, and i wish i did it through high school. grilled chicken, bell peppers, and asparagus? pretty tasty, not bad for me. i should eat this. country fried steak, mashed potatoes, and gravy? very tasty, but also pretty terrible for me. i probably shouldn't eat this unless it's really good.

- this also ties into the health thing but i couldn't find an easy transition. buy a big bag of carrots. every time you are "hungry" for potato chips or whatever terrible thing it is you want to eat, say "am i hungry enough to eat some carrots right now?" if the answer is "no", don't eat the damn chips. if the answer is "yes", go enjoy some delicious carrots, dude.

- don't be fake. be funny. everyone has a certain level of humor in them, and everyone can appreciate a clever joke/pun/whatever.

- be respectful to everyone. this isn't something that i didn't know growing up (gotta love being raised in the south), but it honestly shocks me how people can treat each other sometimes. being a good person feels better, makes life easier, and is how you want others around you to be.

lastly, tf2 tips

- play in esea sooner. playing in ugc for more than a season (if you really want to get good at tf2) is worthless.

- main a 6s class if you don't. they're more fun anyways.

- try to play on teams that are better than you. i managed to do this by not being a terrible, toxic person. it's a lot harder now that i'm leading a team to just get a fat stack around me, but it should always be the goal. don't be ridiculous in the teams you try out for, but being on a team where you can learn a ton from your teammates is a very nice thing.

I posted this on another thread a few days ago. Has some non-high-school stuff, but this is the advice I can give you:

[b]full disclosure: only 21, but i can provide the perspective of someone who wasted a ton of time in highschool that is currently a junior in college. enjoying high school/getting your shit in line for college is going to be the main focus of this post. i'll start with that stuff[/b]

- take more band/art/whatever-extracurricular-you-like classes in high school. you are better at computers than your future programming teacher i promise. do stuff you enjoy in your electives, and learn the other stuff much more efficiently online. taking "fun" electives allows you to make friends with similar interests to you while giving you a break from the monotonous hellhole that is high school.

- want a scholarship for college but you aren't good at the ACT/SAT/whatever? there are lots of things you can do. play an instrument and join the athletic bands program, work on writing (for scholarship essays), look up ways to get scholarships and stuff from everything and everywhere: from your university as a whole, the specific college you're in, your highschool, local churches, charities, whatever.

- don't panic about grades in high school too much, they only matter marginally

- look up the status of job markets for things that you are working for in your major.

- find a state school that has a really good program for what you are getting into. for me, the university of memphis (which is where i'm from) has a stellar school of music. i wouldn't be going here for some of the other schools, but i can get the education i need much cheaper here than some fancy liberal arts college, with pretty much the same quality (if not better).

- don't take test-prep classes (ACT prep, SAT prep, whatever). these classes will [url=http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/psychology/pavlov_classical_conditioning_dogs.gif]condition you[/url] to doze off/ shut down during the real deal. those classes are hell. it's the intellectual equivalent of the word "damp". just take the tests at least once a year (starting in like 7/8th grade, or now if you are past that). that's what i did, and i ended up with a 32 on the ACT (despite not being particularly good at school). being able to put what you learn throughout your middle/high school career into the perspective of the big tests is a seriously beneficial skill. if you're going to pretty much any state school, this is the number that makes or breaks your academic scholarship offers.

- take AP classes. you're going to be forced to take a class during that time slot anyways. might as well make it count. taking AP/ dual credit classes just means you don't have to do it [i]again[/i] in college. so you can have it easy in highschool then have it hard in college or just have it hard in high school. you also save a good amount of money. the choice is p obvious in hindsight, but no one ever phrased it this way to me. i came into college with ~13 credits (which is still a decent amount), and every semester that I look at the plan and see something i already did in highschool, i thank former-kevin. i just wish i did more. it would have made it much easier to focus on classes within my major.

- talk to the guy/girl. assuming you're not weird/creepy about it, the worst they'll say is "no". if they're rude about it, they were shitty from the get-go. i only started doing this late in high school. i didn't get any "yes"s (i only asked a couple people and was a p big weirdo tbh) but who gives a shit? that stuff would still be bugging me if i hadn't just asked.

- start your resume now. it will be so much better when you need it if you start it now. really. go do it now. fill it out as you go.

[b]moving on to general tips[/b]

- eat healthy. this is something i only started doing recently. after a month you realize "oh crap why did i never do this earlier?" eat some dang vegetables. cook some good food every once in a while. i've recently started looking at every food as having a tasty to bad-for-me ratio, and i wish i did it through high school. grilled chicken, bell peppers, and asparagus? [i]pretty tasty, not bad for me. i should eat this.[/i] country fried steak, mashed potatoes, and gravy? [i]very tasty, but also pretty terrible for me. i probably shouldn't eat this unless it's really good.[/i]

- this also ties into the health thing but i couldn't find an easy transition. buy a big bag of carrots. every time you are "hungry" for potato chips or whatever terrible thing it is you want to eat, say "am i hungry enough to eat some carrots right now?" if the answer is "no", don't eat the damn chips. if the answer is "yes", go enjoy some delicious carrots, dude.

- don't be fake. be funny. everyone has a certain level of humor in them, and everyone can appreciate a clever joke/pun/whatever.

- be respectful to everyone. this isn't something that i didn't know growing up (gotta love being raised in the south), but it honestly shocks me how people can treat each other sometimes. being a good person feels better, makes life easier, and is how you want others around you to be.

[b]lastly, tf2 tips[/b]

- play in esea sooner. playing in ugc for more than a season (if you really want to get good at tf2) is worthless.

- main a 6s class if you don't. they're more fun anyways.

- try to play on teams that are better than you. i managed to do this by not being a terrible, toxic person. it's a lot harder now that i'm leading a team to just get a fat stack around me, but it should always be the goal. don't be ridiculous in the teams you try out for, but being on a team where you can learn a ton from your teammates is a very nice thing.
11
#11
2 Frags +

be nice to your teachers, no need to get into arguments with them, they can and WILL fuck you over if you argue with them even when youre right.
talk to that cute girl/boy maybe you'd be a couple??
honestly its the only advice i can give because i didnt attend for large portions of high school due to being sick lol

be nice to your teachers, no need to get into arguments with them, they can and WILL fuck you over if you argue with them even when youre right.
talk to that cute girl/boy maybe you'd be a couple??
honestly its the only advice i can give because i didnt attend for large portions of high school due to being sick lol
12
#12
7 Frags +

dont die

dont die
13
#13
3 Frags +
Failw1zardIf you aren't on a team sport, try one. Cross country is fun as shit. Have fun, make friends, don't ever fall more than week behind on school work if you can.

cross country was the shit

[quote=Failw1zard]If you aren't on a team sport, try one. Cross country is fun as shit. Have fun, make friends, don't ever fall more than week behind on school work if you can.[/quote]

cross country was the shit
14
#14
7 Frags +

teachers are your friends, not your enemies

teachers are your friends, not your enemies
15
#15
1 Frags +

do everything that you may be even remotely interested in now. theres so much shit i wish i tried when i was in HS that i didnt because i thought i wouldnt actually like it, "didnt have time", was afraid of people judging me. i missed out on a lot of potentially cool stuff that would have been really easy for me to get into, and for free, but i didnt. use this time to learn how to speak to adults. i had good friendships with a lot of my teachers simply because i knew how to talk to people older than me. above all, be yourself (as cliche as that is) and do what you feel is important to you, not what you think is going to impress people.

do everything that you may be even remotely interested in now. theres so much shit i wish i tried when i was in HS that i didnt because i thought i wouldnt actually like it, "didnt have time", was afraid of people judging me. i missed out on a lot of potentially cool stuff that would have been really easy for me to get into, and for free, but i didnt. use this time to learn how to speak to adults. i had good friendships with a lot of my teachers simply because i knew how to talk to people older than me. above all, be yourself (as cliche as that is) and do what you feel is important to you, not what you think is going to impress people.
16
#16
0 Frags +

http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/12/the-teen-years-9-cringe-inducing-realizations.html

Very, very good advice, although reading it might make you feel bad about mistakes you've made/are making.

http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/12/the-teen-years-9-cringe-inducing-realizations.html

Very, very good advice, although reading it might make you feel bad about mistakes you've made/are making.
17
#17
3 Frags +

Make friends.

Make friends.
18
#18
2 Frags +

get good grades and get lit my nigga

get good grades and get lit my nigga
19
#19
2 Frags +
KevinIsPwn- don't take test-prep classes (ACT prep, SAT prep, whatever). these classes will condition you to doze off/ shut down during the real deal. those classes are hell. it's the intellectual equivalent of the word "damp". just take the tests at least once a year (starting in like 7/8th grade, or now if you are past that). that's what i did, and i ended up with a 32 on the ACT (despite not being particularly good at school). being able to put what you learn throughout your middle/high school career into the perspective of the big tests is a seriously beneficial skill. if you're going to pretty much any state school, this is the number that makes or breaks your academic scholarship offers.

Results vary significantly for this one. I won't weigh in on ACT prep classes, but for SAT at least I found the experience of a prep course instrumental in my success on the test. The SAT is still a test where knowing 'how' to take it is winning more than half the battle. The content it covers is definitely not hard if you're a decent student, so much of the difficulty lies in proper management of time and weighing the points of questions. Taking one summer of SAT prep class helped me raise my score from ~2100 averages to a 2380 (800CR/800M/780WR) on the test in October. Seriously, if you don't know the SAT well, how to manage time, the guidelines for how to tackle each section, and you want to do well on it, taking a good prep class is something I recommend strongly to anyone who asks me for advice about it.

Also, if you're willing to do extra work, sometimes schools offer AP tests for students even if they don't have that specific class. I remember some friends taking the AP chinese test at my school senior year, and no school within like 30 miles taught AP Chinese.

[quote=KevinIsPwn]
- don't take test-prep classes (ACT prep, SAT prep, whatever). these classes will [url=http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/psychology/pavlov_classical_conditioning_dogs.gif]condition you[/url] to doze off/ shut down during the real deal. those classes are hell. it's the intellectual equivalent of the word "damp". just take the tests at least once a year (starting in like 7/8th grade, or now if you are past that). that's what i did, and i ended up with a 32 on the ACT (despite not being particularly good at school). being able to put what you learn throughout your middle/high school career into the perspective of the big tests is a seriously beneficial skill. if you're going to pretty much any state school, this is the number that makes or breaks your academic scholarship offers.
[/quote]

Results vary significantly for this one. I won't weigh in on ACT prep classes, but for SAT at least I found the experience of a prep course instrumental in my success on the test. The SAT is still a test where knowing 'how' to take it is winning more than half the battle. The content it covers is definitely not hard if you're a decent student, so much of the difficulty lies in proper management of time and weighing the points of questions. Taking one summer of SAT prep class helped me raise my score from ~2100 averages to a 2380 (800CR/800M/780WR) on the test in October. Seriously, if you don't know the SAT well, how to manage time, the guidelines for how to tackle each section, and you want to do well on it, taking a good prep class is something I recommend strongly to anyone who asks me for advice about it.

Also, if you're willing to do extra work, sometimes schools offer AP tests for students even if they don't have that specific class. I remember some friends taking the AP chinese test at my school senior year, and no school within like 30 miles taught AP Chinese.
20
#20
3 Frags +

use a planner to not forget homework and assignments.

good luck bro im in the same boat as you

use a planner to not forget homework and assignments.

good luck bro im in the same boat as you
21
#21
1 Frags +

Junior year's important due to the SATs/ACTs and other tests. Also, you should be starting to find colleges you have a chance with so you can start on applications for them, if you haven't already.

Get into doing extracurricular activities, as well as finding a job (if you don't have one yet).

Prioritize your time wisely, because you should be aiming to prepare for SATs, ACTs, etc. and scoring well on those. Don't procrastinate in anything, because along with the scores on said tests, people look at your GPA.

If you're into such things, take AP courses. It'll increase how much studying you have to do for tests and increase workload, but they're worth it in the long run (college). Personally, I think getting a head start into courses is great. Getting stuck with doing pre-reqs in college when you could've gotten credits for them in high school isn't really worth not taking AP courses seriously.

Planners are important, as long as you know to check them and use them well. Getting into the habit early in high school helps when you're in college. Planners save me pretty frequently.

Junior year's important due to the SATs/ACTs and other tests. Also, you should be starting to find colleges you have a chance with so you can start on applications for them, if you haven't already.

Get into doing extracurricular activities, as well as finding a job (if you don't have one yet).

Prioritize your time wisely, because you should be aiming to prepare for SATs, ACTs, etc. and scoring well on those. Don't procrastinate in anything, because along with the scores on said tests, people look at your GPA.

If you're into such things, take AP courses. It'll increase how much studying you have to do for tests and increase workload, but they're worth it in the long run (college). Personally, I think getting a head start into courses is great. Getting stuck with doing pre-reqs in college when you could've gotten credits for them in high school isn't really worth not taking AP courses seriously.

Planners are important, as long as you know to check them and use them well. Getting into the habit early in high school helps when you're in college. Planners save me pretty frequently.
22
#22
2 Frags +
  • Pop off this year and don't bullshit.
  • Senior year doesn't mean shit. (Well after the first marking period at least)
  • Take the ACT/SAT as much as possible. (don't pay for it though that's stupid)
  • English AP classes are the most easiest classes you can take its literally free credits if you know what you are doing.
  • Do scholarships and start on your essays now. (Don't be like me)
  • Do an internship somewhere this summer. (if your school can't help you with that its not that hard to find places hiring)

If you do these things, take all your core courses, and don't care about your class rank I recommend going into a duel enrollment program, the exposure is pretty cool and if you pick the right classes your schedule will work for you (I have a free period 2 days out of my week to do essays and catch up on work). Also you're making the right move not playing tf2 this year, its important for you to crank out as much As as possible for applications next year, I did this last year and I don't regret it.

[list]
[*] Pop off this year and don't bullshit.
[*] Senior year doesn't mean shit. (Well after the first marking period at least)
[*] Take the ACT/SAT as much as possible. (don't pay for it though that's stupid)
[*] English AP classes are the most easiest classes you can take its literally free credits if you know what you are doing.
[*]Do scholarships and start on your essays now. (Don't be like me)
[*]Do an internship somewhere this summer. (if your school can't help you with that its not that hard to find places hiring)
[/list]

If you do these things, take all your core courses, and don't care about your class rank I recommend going into a duel enrollment program, the exposure is pretty cool and if you pick the right classes your schedule will work for you (I have a free period 2 days out of my week to do essays and catch up on work). Also you're making the right move not playing tf2 this year, its important for you to crank out as much As as possible for applications next year, I did this last year and I don't regret it.
23
#23
-5 Frags +

dont make mistakes like i did

also dont date a boy/girl unless u already are or REALLY REALLY are confident that nothing bad'll happen because a breakup will ruin u

dont make mistakes like i did

also dont date a boy/girl unless u already are or REALLY REALLY are confident that nothing bad'll happen because a breakup will ruin u
24
#24
3 Frags +

u should probably start thinking about colleges i completely blocked it out of my mind until it was nearly too late

u should probably start thinking about colleges i completely blocked it out of my mind until it was nearly too late
25
#25
-7 Frags +

drop out of high school now so you have more time to devote to that minecraft let's play youtube channel that's gonna blow up

drop out of high school now so you have more time to devote to that minecraft let's play youtube channel that's gonna blow up
26
#26
10 Frags +

get sleep

get sleep
27
#27
2 Frags +

volunteer
preferably finding a non-club thing but being at a club to find opportunity works out too. you dont have to do much but you should try to pull a nice event you had for an anecdote and be able to talk about how it changed you as a person, colleges love that. They also like people who give back to the community.

I transferred this semester to a diff college and scores I got on AP exams 2-3 years ago got me out of like 4 classes and got me 16 credits so do those and dont slack the exams off.

work on big projects bit by bit because:
you can working individually on parts of the SAT/ACT until you go through all sections then take one and see how you do, then repeat, ACT tests happen every other month for the most part.

you can crush a paper and make it super easy for yourself if you struggle

it relieves a lot of tension on taking exams and is more manageable time-wise for that

constant practice develops a system in your brain on how to perfect what you're doing better than binging it all in one day

in regards to classes dont use flashcards to study unless it's like a language class or you NEED to memorize a definition, and for the latter there are better ways to prepare for that. In your later years you theoretically should be working on being able to comprehend a question and solve it rather than memorizing ways to finish it.

volunteer
preferably finding a non-club thing but being at a club to find opportunity works out too. you dont have to do much but you should try to pull a nice event you had for an anecdote and be able to talk about how it changed you as a person, colleges love that. They also like people who give back to the community.

I transferred this semester to a diff college and scores I got on AP exams 2-3 years ago got me out of like 4 classes and got me 16 credits so do those and dont slack the exams off.

work on big projects bit by bit because:
you can working individually on parts of the SAT/ACT until you go through all sections then take one and see how you do, then repeat, ACT tests happen every other month for the most part.

you can crush a paper and make it super easy for yourself if you struggle

it relieves a lot of tension on taking exams and is more manageable time-wise for that

constant practice develops a system in your brain on how to perfect what you're doing better than binging it all in one day

in regards to classes dont use flashcards to study unless it's like a language class or you NEED to memorize a definition, and for the latter there are better ways to prepare for that. In your later years you theoretically should be working on being able to comprehend a question and solve it rather than memorizing ways to finish it.
28
#28
1 Frags +

don't take your friends for granted

sleep

don't take things to seriously, but don't treat things like a joke

don't take your friends for granted

sleep

don't take things to seriously, but don't treat things like a joke
29
#29
-2 Frags +

Edit: dont listen to me

Edit: dont listen to me
30
#30
13 Frags +

edgiest phase of your life, make sure you only talk to your friends about 2000's emo punk bands

edgiest phase of your life, make sure you only talk to your friends about 2000's emo punk bands
1 2
Please sign in through STEAM to post a comment.