Editor's Note: The following is an excerpt from Meagan Kennedy's blog post "How To Survive High School - Advice From A Senior" which can be found in its unedited form here: https://thensingsmysoulll.wordpress.com/2015/05/26/how-to-survive-high-school-advice-from-a-senior/. This post was originally posted on May 26th, 2015 - three days before Oxford High's Class of 2015 Graduation, which is set for tomorrow, Friday, May 29th. Meagan is an outgoing senior from Oxford High School. The following has been edited for grammar purposes from the original post.
Oxford outgoing senior Meagan Kennedy writes to inform incoming OHS students of how to take your four years in high school:
Three days out from graduation and I’m feeling a little anxious, a little excited, and a little sentimental. After four years, I can honestly say there are so many things I wish someone had told me before I got to high school. So for that I’m going to provide a list of what I believe are the most important things you need to know in order to survive the four exciting years of high school:
Smile :)
I once was given a prime parking spot before I even had my license simply because the man remembered how I smiled as I passed by him in the carpool line every day. There are so many times I can remember how a smile in the hallways from a passing friend or even from someone I didn’t know brought me out of a “bad day funk” or made my day brighter. Smiling is contagious, you never know how far a simple passing smile in the hallways can go.
Manners, Manners, Manners
It is SO important to be polite and respectful. Anyone with authority should automatically command respect, whether it be your class president or your principal. There are so many better ways to handle situations than to be disrespectful! I know there are times when you disagree (i.e. the OHS dress code) but the best thing to do is to handle the problem maturely and politely. Not to be a mom, but there are reasons 15-year-olds don’t make the rules. ;)
Act your Age
And by age I mean your grade. There are so many times I wish I had spent more time my freshman year actually doing freshmen things and not wishing away what little time I had trying to be older. When you’re a freshman, have fun being a freshman! Go to your first high school football game in the student section, camp out in right field during a baseball game for the first time, get involved in clubs and JV sports. Also, don’t waste sophomore year wishing for junior year, or especially junior year wishing for senior year. It comes all too fast and you don’t want to regret all that time wishing away the present.
Find your “Home”
I’m not talking about your “clique,” “squad,” or any other form of social standings. I’m talking about finding what you are interested in and what you love to do. Surround yourself with people who love to do the same thing and you will find that high school is so much easier when you spend your time doing what you love with those who love it as much as you do. Whether it'd be baseball, the choir, art, football, science, basketball, foreign languages, dance, or theatre like it was for me. Pursue your passions and find wonderful people to experience life alongside. I am happy to say that spending 6 years alongside the theatre kids in my ‘home’ has truly made me who I am today. We’ve done life together, survived the roller-coaster ride of high school, and at the same time grown together in our talents and skills. So find your home and I promise high school will be so much more attainable!
Be YOURSELF
There are so many influences in high school–images of older kids or even of those your own age can often pressure you into trying to be something you’re not. Be yourself! Find what you’re good at and run with it. Don’t spend your time trying to be everyone else. With that said, don’t spend time dwelling on what other people have that you lack or what other people are good at that you can’t do. Instead, spend your time developing your character and deciding who you are. Run away from the crowd, be a leader, and always remember the wise words of Dr. Seuss:
Smile :)
I once was given a prime parking spot before I even had my license simply because the man remembered how I smiled as I passed by him in the carpool line every day. There are so many times I can remember how a smile in the hallways from a passing friend or even from someone I didn’t know brought me out of a “bad day funk” or made my day brighter. Smiling is contagious, you never know how far a simple passing smile in the hallways can go.
Manners, Manners, Manners
It is SO important to be polite and respectful. Anyone with authority should automatically command respect, whether it be your class president or your principal. There are so many better ways to handle situations than to be disrespectful! I know there are times when you disagree (i.e. the OHS dress code) but the best thing to do is to handle the problem maturely and politely. Not to be a mom, but there are reasons 15-year-olds don’t make the rules. ;)
Act your Age
And by age I mean your grade. There are so many times I wish I had spent more time my freshman year actually doing freshmen things and not wishing away what little time I had trying to be older. When you’re a freshman, have fun being a freshman! Go to your first high school football game in the student section, camp out in right field during a baseball game for the first time, get involved in clubs and JV sports. Also, don’t waste sophomore year wishing for junior year, or especially junior year wishing for senior year. It comes all too fast and you don’t want to regret all that time wishing away the present.
Find your “Home”
I’m not talking about your “clique,” “squad,” or any other form of social standings. I’m talking about finding what you are interested in and what you love to do. Surround yourself with people who love to do the same thing and you will find that high school is so much easier when you spend your time doing what you love with those who love it as much as you do. Whether it'd be baseball, the choir, art, football, science, basketball, foreign languages, dance, or theatre like it was for me. Pursue your passions and find wonderful people to experience life alongside. I am happy to say that spending 6 years alongside the theatre kids in my ‘home’ has truly made me who I am today. We’ve done life together, survived the roller-coaster ride of high school, and at the same time grown together in our talents and skills. So find your home and I promise high school will be so much more attainable!
Be YOURSELF
There are so many influences in high school–images of older kids or even of those your own age can often pressure you into trying to be something you’re not. Be yourself! Find what you’re good at and run with it. Don’t spend your time trying to be everyone else. With that said, don’t spend time dwelling on what other people have that you lack or what other people are good at that you can’t do. Instead, spend your time developing your character and deciding who you are. Run away from the crowd, be a leader, and always remember the wise words of Dr. Seuss:
"Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you!"
ENJOY IT
You only get four years of high school. (and yes senioritis is a thing and most of us are ready to leave by the end of those four years.) Don’t waste it! Don’t wish away the last few precious years of your youth. Because as soon as it starts, it ends. I honestly don’t know where those four years went but I can happily say I lived them to the fullest. They were happy and sad, up and down, and full of new experiences and beginnings, beginnings that are now sadly coming to an end. So live each day to the fullest; don’t waste time wishing for tomorrow, because tomorrow will come way too soon and you don’t want to be wishing for yesterday when it gets here!
I’m not saying these four years were easy. Trust me, they were far from it, but if you play your cards right it can be the most fun adventure yet and leave you with bountiful memories and an enthusiastic spirit ready to go out and explore the real world!
Have fun, my friends.
You only get four years of high school. (and yes senioritis is a thing and most of us are ready to leave by the end of those four years.) Don’t waste it! Don’t wish away the last few precious years of your youth. Because as soon as it starts, it ends. I honestly don’t know where those four years went but I can happily say I lived them to the fullest. They were happy and sad, up and down, and full of new experiences and beginnings, beginnings that are now sadly coming to an end. So live each day to the fullest; don’t waste time wishing for tomorrow, because tomorrow will come way too soon and you don’t want to be wishing for yesterday when it gets here!
I’m not saying these four years were easy. Trust me, they were far from it, but if you play your cards right it can be the most fun adventure yet and leave you with bountiful memories and an enthusiastic spirit ready to go out and explore the real world!
Have fun, my friends.
* The opinions expressed here rest solely on the writer of this post and not that of OxChargerSports.*