Around the world 8th graders move up each year, while some schools just receive their certificates, others hold ceremonies to cherish and celebrate the achievement of their middle school journey. While this is a great tradition, most 8th graders do not truly understand the transition they are faced with when moving up.
Here is some advice from the current High Schoolers.
DOs
“Stay organised and self managed”. According to some 9th graders, being organized is the most effective way to stay on track on schoolwork, while being self managed is also as important because it helps to keep track of social activities, for instance enjoying time with friends and prioritising school work by staying focused in class; it also allows you to make time and focus on your school work by organising your time in a way that would suitable for you because each student has their own schedule and their own way to manage their time. Some students find it easy to do their work at night, others find it easy to do it in the mornings before school. This all depends on the students schedules and activities.
“Study when you can and treat studying as a casual thing”. Rather than setting a distinct time to study and stressing yourself out to meet the deadlines of studying. One 10th graders suggests that studying when possible helps navigate the first year smoothly. This is because allowing yourself to find that time to study will be easier because it allows you to have control on how you’re studying and when you are studying. This helps a lot in school work because it allows you to study in a way that is suitable for you and it creates a much easier way for you to learn.
“Stay focused in class every single day”. It can be very easy to lose track of the content you’re learning at school due to CCAs and other hobbies that can distract you from school. Which is why focusing in class allows you to get the most out of your classes so you create more space to enjoy your social life and to focus on your hobbies without the stress of not knowing what you’re doing in class. While this is easier said than done, a way to truly help you stay focused in class is by engaging in it, while the teacher asks questions in class you could answer if you know or ask more questions in class, this enables you to gain more knowledge in class. Which makes it easier to study for summatives as you already know most of the content.
DONTs
“Neglect the workload”. A key takeaway from several 9th graders is that they neglected the workload that would face them in high school were they realized, the importance of taking their work seriously, as one 9th grader mentioned “I thought it would be easy but it was not I had to deal with so much work to the point where I was so stressed.” Managing workload is not easy but prioritizing it can go a long way in maintaining a balance in school work.
“Let social life overpower your academics”. While enjoying time with friends is a vital part of your experience in high school, it is as well important to that come at the expense of your academics. The most important and hardest thing would be to find the balance between both your social life and academics. Which is where self management comes into play. Self management is beneficial in focussing on your academics because it allows you to set and plan how you can put in the time and effort for your school work. This helps students to prioritize their focus on school and also manage how they spend time for their social life.
“Leave your work till the last minute”. This advice is probably the most crucial in high school because it is the most common pattern seen in most upcoming high schools but it is also the worst as it increases stress in most students and also affects their work quality. This is very detrimental to students as it does not allow them to also put in effort in their work and other hobbies. Which is why self-management is a skill that needs to be learnt early on in high school as it will help in prioritizing time for each part of a student’s life such as school, hobbies and their social life.
Words of encouragement
Moving into high school is an important step in your education, and it is completely normal to be nervous. However remember that your success is in your control. By building good habits over time and adjusting to new circumstances, you will start to have the tools to balance your hard work with enjoying time with your friends. These tips might truly reward you for the next 4 years of your high school life and even college.