Welcome freshmen! Starting high school is a big step on your academic journey, but it is tough to be the smallest of fish in Perry’s huge pond. Luckily there are plenty of people who have been there and can look back and tell you the do’s and don’ts for a successful freshman year. 

Care about your grades

This is high school. The stakes have been raised from here on out. The larger workload catches countless incoming freshmen off guard. One of the most important things is to realize that staying on top of your work is essential to success. Link Crew sponsor, Eric Rygiel notes that, “It comes down to planning, it comes down to asking, and it comes down to taking advantage of those opportunities that are presented to them.” Being successful academically means you care about your grades. Do not procrastinate. Plan when you do your homework if you need to. If you do not understand the material, make sure you ask someone to help you. Taking advantage of resources that are given to you is important, go to tutoring and do every extra credit opportunity offered. Those two things can help in the long run.

Make connections 

School can become pointless and tedious after day in and day out of doing the bare minimum. The best way to invest yourself in your school is to get connected. Clubs are a great way to get involved. Establishing relationships with your peers and teachers is also a way to find purpose in your school day. Staying in touch with your Link crew officers can help you have a mentor to go to when you need a hand. Rygiel shares, “If you just come to school and do homework everyday, you don’t feel connected to the campus; this campus has a lot of opportunities.” Whether it be with teachers, students, or clubs, making connections can add color to your high school experience.

Balance 

One of the most difficult parts of high school is balance. Between the added academic stress, extra curriculars, and maintaining a social life, your agenda can get busy. Balancing that takes discipline and practice. When you focus too much on one aspect the others can suffer. Senior Kailee Engelke, a Link Crew leader, emphasized that “keeping up grades is pretty hard, but socially being able to balance everything, especially later on, balancing a job and sports and everything is pretty tricky.” Finding a way to keep everything in balance is essential to succeeding in high school. It is definitely the hardest part of high school as well, but if you can find a way to balance everything, you have already succeeded.

High school can be a scary place, but if you can successfully take and use advice, you can do it. The first step is to care about your grades. Caring will get you halfway there. Make connections and balance will get you the rest of the way. Rygiel explains that, “everyday is an investment and if you don’t take advantage of that day you’re going to fall behind.” So make everyday an investment and freshman year is going to be a breeze.