Dear Freshman,

Dear Freshman,

Okay, breathe. You’ve made it.  Sort of anyway. You just completed your first semester of high school, just seven more to go. Yeah, that may seem like a lot, but you’ve come a long way from the kid desperately clutching the blurry map you printed out from the school website searching left and right for Mrs. Hamlin’s class, overwhelmed by your new home for the next four years of your life. Now, everything is a bit more comfortable, you’ve gotten accustomed to the workload, you’ve probably found your “group”, and I would hope you know where Mrs. Hamlin’s room is at this point. That being said, you’re still a freshman, there is still so much ahead of you, so to make the most of the rest of this year. I have a few words of advice.

First off, enjoy it. Freshman year is by far the easiest year of high school as far as stress levels go, so take advantage of that. Hang out with your friends, go to sports games, and make sure you get what little homework you have out of the way so you can cherish this free time because before you know it, the APs and the essays and the notes will get to you. Trust me when I say you will have regretted not living it up during this time.

Adding on to this, don’t feel the need to intentionally stress yourself out. All those clubs, sports, and extracurriculars will get to you, not to say they aren’t great for cultivating your interests and making new friends, just participate in moderation. It’s kind of like junk food in a sense, a little is okay, but a lot may end up making you feel “blegh.” After all, the reason why you are most likely doing all these activities is for the sake of your future, in preparation for the long, long road ahead, so don’t burn yourself out now. But also guys, you are so young! You don’t need to have it all planned out. If you do, awesome, I admire you for that, but if you don’t, don’t sweat it. This, right here, is the time to find out what you’re interested in. This is the time to experiment — to dye your hair that bright pink or give yourself bangs, really, just to cultivate you!

Have fun, take the classes you are genuinely interested in, not the ones some dudes decided were “right” for you, and again, breathe, it’ll be over sooner than you know.

Best of luck,

A Tustin High Student Class of 2018

PS – Did you know that this letter was written by a journalism student at Tustin High? We have our own on-line magazine called “The Pitchfork”  and a brand new digital zine that includes student art work and untold stories about students on campus.

 

26 Comments Add yours

  1. Hailey Adams says:

    Thanks, great advice for the future of my high school career!

    1. ithsmedia says:

      You’re welcome! 🙂 Good luck!

  2. Hannah Abdelhadi says:

    I really appreciate your advice, and I hope to use it in my future years of high school and so on.

    1. ithsmedia says:

      You’re welcome! 🙂

  3. Aldo Neri says:

    This is good advice for freshmen.

    1. ithsmedia says:

      Glad to help!

  4. Julianna Shimabukuro says:

    This article was inspirational and made me want to continue to work hard in school in order to finish all four years in high school. I felt as if I accomplished something for finishing the first semester of high school. High school was a roller coaster at first as I had no idea what to expect for homework or tests, but I have grown accustomed to the work loads, and it has become a bit more enjoyable.

    1. ithsmedia says:

      Good luck!

  5. Jacqueline says:

    Thank you, high school has been fun & rough so far & I’m sure your advice will help me enjoy every bit of my freshmen year & so on. 🙂

    1. ithsmedia says:

      You’re welcome! 🙂 Good luck!

  6. Karla says:

    Great advice. Thanks!

    1. ithsmedia says:

      You’re welcome! 🙂

  7. Mary says:

    High School has been a great experience so far but still stressful. I’ve had so much fun meeting new people and making tons of memories and we’re only half way through the year. However, it is challenging balancing my extra curricular activities but it’s all going good.

    1. ithsmedia says:

      Good luck!

  8. Kameron Sok says:

    Thank you for the advice, I will remember it for my future years of high school.

    1. ithsmedia says:

      You’re welcome! 🙂 Good luck!

  9. Christopher Mazuca says:

    High school has been an okay experience for me being a bit stressful balancing school, sports, church, and my band. So far it has been getting better and I am looking forward to the future of my high school career.

    1. ithsmedia says:

      Good luck!

  10. Chris G. says:

    High school has been a great experience. Hoping that it will stay the same as this for the rest of the school year.

    1. ithsmedia says:

      Good luck!

  11. Cassie says:

    My high school experience has been good so far. I’ve learned to balance my school life and my sport life. I’ve meet many new people and done different things. This advice will help me with my high school career.

    1. ithsmedia says:

      Good luck!

  12. Bradley says:

    High School has been mucho bueno and fun and just a good amount of challenging and had many new experiences in high school met new people and its been great so far.

    1. ithsmedia says:

      Good luck!

  13. Sergio Serrano says:

    High School has been a great experience so far. Reasons why is that I have amazing classes, new friends, and being on the Dance Team they taught how to keep on top of my stuff.

    1. ithsmedia says:

      Good luck!

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