High school. . .any redeeming qualities?

I just started (about 5 weeks ago) my first year of high school. I just got my first progress report; all A’s and a D (got off to a really bad start). I’m getting really stressed out about everything to do with that class. It seems like the smallest mistake is gonna cost me a decent grade (and it just might). I’m only getting 6 or 7 hours of sleep a night (I pity anyone who gets less than this), I’ve got a speech to write on top of everything else I have to do, and I feel like shit. Somebody tell me (truthfully) that high school is gonna get at least a little better.

Once you find the groove of how hard you want to work and how seriously you want to take it, it will get better. Not all subjects need to be given 100% of your effort. There are 16 quarters to your high school “career” so one D isn’t going to weigh in much, especially since the rest are A’s. Don’t stress too bad. Have fun, take risks, and expand your interests, and know that every else is a freaked out as you are.

I loved high school. It gave me the opportunity to begin to branch out. There are some time management challenges. The smallest mistake may cost you a grade, it depends on where the mistake is made, how things are weighted, if half your grade is based n two tests, don’t bomb the tests. The first quarter grades don’t really include major exams, so I’m sure you have the opportunity to get more points coming up.

High school doesn’t change, but you will grow and be able to handle it. You do just have to fall into a groove. You will get better at this, that is the idea.

Meanwhile, {{{{{Catalyst}}}}}

If you need specific help with anything feel free to e-mail me. I’m pretty good with most of it.

One good thing about high school. Eventually you graduate. Other than that, hummm, I’m thinking, I’m thinking. Oh, I know. Summer break.

No really, it will get better. Friends will pop up in odd places, strange, possibly embarassing but ultimately memorable things will happen, teachers will forget the rules and turn out to be human, and the opposite sex will be real jerks until someday, well, they just won’t be. Part of school is about doing your best in the academic classes (I used to teach high school so I know the party line), but learning social skills, i.e. how to be comfortable around people, coping with sorrow, being widely enthusiastic about anything and/or everything are also important. One mistake at the beginning of the year shouldn’t carve your grade in stone. Have you talked to the teacher about why you made such a bad start? That you know you’re doing badly, and taking responsibility for your part in it (not reading the chapter, snoozing during the lecture, not asking for help sooner) goes a long way with most teachers. Do try to get more sleep–it really will improve the quality of your life. And don’t forget to have fun. It’s in the job description for teenagers.

If a demented psychologist were to try to devise the perfect environment for making intelligent adolescents miserable, he could not come up with anything more efficient than the modern American high school.

I’m in my freshman year of college, trying to forget high school. Well, a lot of it. :wink:

Does it get better? Well, it really depends on what you make of it. Find your niche. I was a theater rat/ stage crew techie. They were my people. Anyway, it’s a good idea to get involved in something that interests you. You do eventually find a crowd of sorts.

Something I wish I’d learned in HS:
Grades do not matter.
Grades do not matter.
Grades do not matter.

I mean this within reason. If you get generally good marks, then colleges will take you. Saying “screw it” and flunking out obviously matters- what I mean is that it’s best not to obsess over one bad grade or the B plus that should have been an A.

I go to Dartmouth, which is one of those hopelessly snobby Ivy League schools. Midterm of Senior year, I got my first D ever. I still got in. The valdictorian of our school, who outscored me on the SATs and was an uber-athlete, did not. I ended up 6th in my class with a boatload of extracurriculars. The extracurriculars gave me the leg up, I think.

Once you get out of hs, no one cares what grades you got or what your SATs or APs were. They might get you college credit in some courses. Do your best without giving yourself an ulcer, if that’s possible.

High school can be a good time to learn about the world. Also romance. Just be careful. I personally would avoid drunken parties with people you don’t trust. Or at all. Odds are, some people who come in with you aren’t going to make it out, and avoiding generally stupid stuff is advisable to increase the odds.

For that matter, don’t drive with friends who are bad drivers. Either become a good one or ride with someone who is.

I’d be more coherent, but I’m insanely tired. Time to do homework.

Ignore the rumor mill. If people spread rumors or talk badly about you, fuck 'em. They’re not worth it. Your friends know who you truely are- outside of their opinions, they way you are percieved matters little. Popular opinion is worth about as much as cat vomit. Just be who you are, for sanity’s sake.

Andygirl, for someone who is insanely tired, you make a lot of sense!

My experience of high school (ages ago) was utter Hell. It is true, they design it to make you miserable.

Don’t take anything too seriously in high school. Well, as andygirl says, within reason…

A “loser” or a “nerd” in high school may not be wildly successful in the Real World. A fabulously popular “can’t do any wrong” kid may totally suck in the Real World. High School is NOT the Real World. Not even a facsimile.

Sigh. I am too tired myself. That should be:
“A “loser” or a “nerd” in high school may be wildly successful in the Real World.”

Oh, for God’s sake. High school? Quit yer frettin’. High school is a walk in the park compared to what’s coming. Lighten up, quit worrying about a stupid grade or two, and have some damned fun while you’re able.

And get used to that six or seven hours of sleep, that’s all you’re ever going to get on a regular basis.

You think high school is bad?? Just wait until you get to college! Granted, many of the social pressures either disappear or manifest themselves in another way, but academically watch out! You can and will do in one semester at college what it would have taken 2 years to learn in high school. You haven’t seen homework till you get to college! I am in my senior year at RIT, and have done quite well. But the classes are by no means easy, and it makes high school classes look like a completey and utter joke. The great part about college though is going home after you’ve been gone for about a year. You get to see all the “popular” people from high school… and see how their lives totally fell apart. I always enjoy the school quarterback who thought he was hot shit and now has 2 kids and is flunking out of community college… man life sure has a sense of irony. :wink:

Ah . . . high school. How I loathed thee.

Do not worry about a D. Work harder, talk to the prof - er, teacher, about what you need to do to get a better grade. The principal difference b/w HS and college is that in high school half of your grade will be from making sure you read the text - so if you read it you’re set. In college most of the time the prof will assume you have read the text and go from there.

So do your homework, don’t try to fit in with the “in-crowd” and remember that 9 out of ten in that in-crowd, ten years from now, will be working for someone who was not in the “in-crowd”.

And don’t worry about wearing sunscreen.

high school—some people hate it, some think it is the best time of their life.

regardless…
Since you just started, then I’d say that you just need some more time to get used to it. It will become easier once you adapt to the new atmosphere, rules, attitudes, etc.

High school’s most redeeming quality is that it only lasts four years.

It does, however, get a little better as you go along. You know the people, you know the ropes, and you start getting more choices about what classes to take and so on. I can remember during freshman year somebody told me to enjoy my “precious high school years” and said they would be “the best years of your life”. I thought, So what you mean is, I may as well end it all now, 'cause it’s all going to suck from here on out. (Fortunately, as it turns out, I decided to stick around anyway, and the woman who told me that turned out to be completely and utterly wrong.) But by senior year I was almost a little sad to be leaving. Almost.

You can always try to look on the bright side: in some ways, junior high (middle school) sucked more. Or just use the time-honored method of counting the days until graduation.