How to Survive High School

P.S. This blog contains some jokes that are not meant to be taken seriously, I hope you can differentiate between sarcasm and sincere words

It's almost summer time. Just like last year, you're probably going to stay at home during your vacation. Boring right? Well, you see, if this already isn't going to be too fun, why don't we do productive stuff we tend to avoid? School is a great example here.

As I've just finished my sophomore year, I think I do have the rights to say something here: Elementary school is a joke compared to high school. Yeah... Really. Those grades probably won't matter at all when applying to colleges. This may vary depending on where you live and plan to apply to, but generally what most universities want are a reasonable GPA, a fair score on a certain number of external exams, as well as some super-curricular and extracurricular activities.

Important Note: Elite universities are an exception here. If you really want to get into one, aim for 4.0 unweighted GPA and a 5 on 10 APs (or a load of A*s in numerous A Levels). Don't forget to achieve at least 1570 on SAT and have your parents donate a library. If you still get rejected with all of those, then my bad your parents probably should've donated an additional football field.

Alright, that was somewhat off-topic. Let's head into the main content now

If you are currently in high school like me, first off... get off this website let's not procrastinate. Admit it, you've most probably stressed yourself out so hard by just scrolling on your phone or computer for hours. If you want your life to be easier during this period of time, you need to work on your productivity. Next, take breaks whilst you're studying. Yes, the test you're going to take the next day may be really tough and you want to use every bit of your time but honestly you're just gonna end up being super tired and unable to focus. Hydrate yourself a bit during those breaks and maybe stretch.

Okay the ones above are pretty basic and I believe most teenagers have at least tried them. Let's dive deeper.

Try being more social if you aren't already. I'm not forcing you to be all-out extroverted but talking to friends regularly can help reduce stress. This, however, does not include dating a few dozen people a year. Just, don't do that.

I probably sound like an average Asian boomer saying this, but use your summer wisely. Especially since now you're less likely to travel, plan your activities out for this break. Take me as an example here, I plan to take 5 AP exams next year and attend classes for Calc AB as prep for Calc BC, which I'm going to take in my senior year. Out of the 5 exams I plan to take in my junior year, I currently plan on self-studying two of them (Comp Sci A and HuG) as well as World History: Modern, which I might take in 2023. In addition to that, I'm going to prep up for SAT as I want a good 1500+ (which I probably won't end up getting because my SAT English is bad). So yeah, it can get quite stressful, so you should manage your time better and perhaps sacrifice a bit of your gaming hours for all that. Maybe even go for summer school (which, by the way, would be too late now if you want to apply for this year), something is better than nothing.

Another really important thing right here, and debateably the most vital out of everything I'm going to mention: You need to sleep enough. C'mon, even if you memorized an entire dictionary and a load of classical poems, you're still not gonna do good in English if you'll sleep halfway through the exam. Get sufficient amounts of sleep (which may vary by person, but preferably at least 7-8 hours) and you're most likely going to outperform that sleepyhead sitting in the back.

So, TL;DR, work on your time management and fix your sleep schedule. Take short breaks when tired of studying and spent your holidays wisely if you do not have any other plans.

Okay so, if you're still at these early stages, you're still all clear. Focus in class and make sure you understand the concepts. Although I have mentioned that the grades you're currently getting don't really matter, knowing the material you learn here can help you get started with more advanced stuff much more easily. So basically, be a nerd. Oh also, not just any nerd. Don't eat too much BTS meal or McNuggets and avoid frequent consumption of soft drinks and ice creams. Those can and will affect you, more than just physically.

In addition to that, a lot of stuff I've mentioned up there sorta apply here too. For example, sleep patterns. If you're already having a terrible sleep pattern as a kid, how do you expect yourself to do much better as an adolescent?

I really don't know if I have much more to say here. I guess, enjoy your life for now?

If you need help with what to do after your upcoming reincarnation, then here's some advice. Assuming you can, pick your parents. Preferably, be born in a wealthy minority family that lives in a safe area and where your parents have an idea of what to do. If not, get new parents. Next up, sweat a bit in school and follow whatever I've mentioned above. Works every time

Alright, that sums up everything I have for y'all today. Hope you've enjoyed it and/or found it helpful.

One last advice before signing off: Make sure you survive not just high school, if you don't survive catastrophic events, then you definitely can't get past high school

Have a nice day, peace out

- Bread