As you wind down the year (and in most of your cases, your high school experience), another couple of reflection questions:
* Now that you know what you know, what advice would you give to next year's freshmen as they embark upon their high school journeys?
* What are your proudest moments from this year? From high school so far?
* What is one thing you're really glad you did this year, regardless of how well (or not) it turned out? (I LOVE the "Sometimes you win. Sometimes you learn." on the Link Crew shirts :) )
* What is something really important/valuable that you learned this year (either a school fact/skill-type thing or something that you learned about yourself)?
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Lego, Cav (the Lego brand name was derived from the Danish expression "leg godt" - play well - and lego also translates in Latin as "I study" or "I put together"...really, one of the world's most perfect words!)
College isnt for everyone. If you dont want to go, then dont go. Youll only get what you put into it, and if you know what you want to do with your life, and college isnt part of it, dont feel obligated to have to go. Friends will come and go. People that were very close to you, will drift away if you dont keep them close, so pick who you care about. Try not to be mad about people that you dont like, cause the preps will always be there and at the end of the day, there is only you. People arent worth loosing sleep about. Feel free and live for the day. Be who you want to be, because your happiness counts. High school will only be good if you try and make it good, also try new things.
i would tell freshman not to worry about losing friends and not to hold on to old friendships. dont water a dead plant, people change and the ones worth being friends with will stick around.
get involved! join clubs/sports/theater! they look good on college applications and are a blast, plus you have an automatic friend group! Don't be afraid to ASK QUESTIONS and EMAIL YOUR TEACHERS, they want to help!!!! really focus on your academics all 4 years, because it all counts!
I would tell freshman to start worrying about grades and everything now cause every year is important and to enjoy all four years because it goes by really fast.
The most important advice I would give to any incoming freshman is to participate. Regardless of who looks down who you, regardless of your ideas, participate. Convey your thoughts and opinions to others. Too many times I see nobody in class participating, and this is unfortunate because I don't believe you can get the most out of school unless you input your own opinions. School should not be a lecture, period after period, in which only the teacher's ideas are being expressed. School must be an exchanging of ideas from students to teachers.
JOIN ASB!!! I feel like as soon as I joined asb my high school started. Its the best experience I've ever been apart of and I recommend it tremendously. Its the most fun you will have and I cant imagine what my senior year would have been without it. You meet some of the greatest people on campus and get involved so much.
Focus on school and get somewhat involved. Enjoy your time but at the sometime make it worth something. Proudest moment is going to CIF finals even though i didn't really want to go in the first place. Still i made it which looking back i'm happy i went.
I would tell freshman that high school isn't a popularity contest. It doesn't matter who you're friends with, where you buy your clothes, or whether or not you have a boyfriend/girlfriend. All that really matters is that you're happy. There is no reason to hangout with a group of people who put you down constantly just because they are popular. Don't get caught up in drama! There are so many more important things than the petty drama you will experience in high school, just walk away from it. If you're ever unhappy fix it. Don't wait around for some miracle to happen you need to make the effort whether to bring your grades up, make new friends, or whatever the situation is. There are so many ways to keep yourself happy you just have to remember that you are the only person who can make yourself happy.
My proudest moment from this year and this entire year would have to be organizing and coming together with the community to start raising money for the future Memorial Skate park for Logan Wells. We have accomplished so much and it is crazy to believe that in 2 months we have raised as much money as we have. It blew my mind the support and encouragement we have received from El Dorado students and staff, and people throughout the community. The hardest yet most amazing day I EVER had at El Dorado was the Monday we came back after Logan passed. Sitting in the quad singing with my peers in honor of such a beautiful person was something I will never forget. I had never seen anything like that before, and for the staff to be supportive and let us mourn that entire day was something I could not be more grateful for.
One thing I am really glad I did this year is make new friends. I don't know where I would be without the friends I made this year. They aren't even my friends they are my family. They mean the entire world to me. We experienced such a great loss together and because of each other we press on and try to stay strong for Logan. I can honestly say on behalf of all my friends everything we do now, is for him. We live for him. If I wouldn't have had the courage to go out and make new friends I have no idea where I would be in life. It's been the worst/best year of my life with them.
Something valuable I learned about myself is that I am much smarter than I give myself credit for. I tend to take the easy way out but I know I am much smarter. That is something I would also tell freshman.. Everyone has the ability to be smart, you're not dumb you're just lazy. Motivating yourself is a hard thing to do but it is worth it in the end. It isn't a good feeling to have to worry two days before graduation whether or not you're going to pass all your classes and be able to walk with all your friends. Laziness isn't going to get you anywhere. That is by far the most important thing I learned about myself.
Get involved with the school because you'll later regret it if you don't do anything. And don't slack off. It really sucks that some people have to worry about grades on the last week of high school as seniors. Just have fun.
The first thing i would tell freshmen is that they actually do have the power to hangout with who they want. You are never "stuck" with a certain clique. I think this is often misunderstood of unconsciously believed as i know that i have been around people where i stepped back for a second and seriously had no clue why i spent time with them. If you do not relate or feel that you are welcome amongst a group, there's plenty of other options. Many times, we know a person from a class but they aren't apart of our "group", so they can be a good option.
One of my proudest moments this year is even making it to the AP tests. It sounds silly but the weeks before, you really aren't too sure. Also, my proudest moment of all of high school is making varsity cheer as a freshmen. But not only that, although i cannot cheer anymore, i am happy to still hangout with all of them and it may be sad sometimes, it keeps me in love with the sport. Also, Logan Wells' impact on our school is something my grandchildren will tell their grandchildren...i do not think that it could ever be expressed in words how close our school felt. i wish everyday feels that much unity. Through one very special person, we were all able to see the true meaning of life..is to live..it sounds so silly, but many forget it. I do not think we will ever forget it.
I am really glad that i took world affairs/world religions because not many kids take academic electives because usually..it is more work. However, this class introduced me to inspiring teachers, hilarious kids, and interesting topics.
Something i learned this year, and i think EVERYONE learns by their junior year, is that there comes a point when you don't really have to filter who you are. I feel like fresh/soph years, it is kind of like you may be being "yourself" but never 100% but by junior year the masks are all off and everyone is a lot more comfortable.THAT IS WHY SENIOR YEAR IS JUST A BLAST THEN. I also learned that being one of the only blondes in an AP class is okay... and completely possible
I would tell freshmen to get involved at El Dorado and work hard in your classes! Don't stress yourself out too much and time management is essential! High school is going to go by alot faster then you would expect.
