During my time at Riverside, I was a good student. I got straight A’s and I did my work…but ten years from now, the parts of my high school experience that I will remember the most won’t be the classes.
It will be arguing with my friends at lunch, or the time our coach ran over a sign when we went to Cook Out. Doing well in your classes is important, but the most important part of high school is making friends and becoming a better person.
I didn’t realize how important the non-academic parts of school were until they all got taken away during COVID. When sports and clubs stopped, those were the parts of school that I missed, not the classes.
One of the best things you can do is get involved in a club or sport. It is good to find people who are similar to you and who like similar things. These people will help you so much in giving you a sense of belonging at the school, and will make the whole high school experience way more fun.
I was on the tennis team all four years of high school and I was a captain for the last two. Many of my best memories of Riverside will be from tennis, from big wins with my doubles partners, or coach’s driving skills.
I was also on the Battle of the Books team every year, not just in high school but since fifth grade. Though I never got a win (and will stay bitter about it for a while), it was still one of the most memorable and fun parts of the last four years.
Never take your time in high school for granted. It goes very quickly, and before you know it you’re applying to colleges.
Don’t worry too much about the small things, like a test or a hard assignment, because it will all be over so fast. When the classes end in June you don’t have to worry about them anymore, but if you didn’t do anything other than schoolwork for four years, when it ends you won’t have any other interests to focus on after high school.
The experiences and memories that you make during high school you will remember for the rest of your life, so make sure you make good ones.
