What Advice Would You Give Your Freshman Self About Going Through High School?

By: Olivia Mullens

Liv Mullens, Contributing Author
March 21, 2017

Four years and two different schools has taught Sam a lot about high school. She would tell her younger self to “take classes that you like and don’t be afraid if you feel like you don’t fit in, because life after high school will be much different. Just focus on your work so you can get into a good college.” She believes that her advice for high school can be applied to college as well. She says they are similar because you should always apply yourself and do what you love to do.
Ryan Harris’s advice was short and sweet and right to the point. “Keep your grades up because that’s how you get scholarships for college.” He thinks the effort should still continue once he attends college. “Good grades in college will show future jobs you apply for that you are serious and actually care about what you are doing. It shows initiative and passion.”

 

Eliza is a Senior at Souhegan, and when asked to share something she wishes she could tell her younger self going into high school, her response was geared solely towards the social aspect of her time here. “Don’t be afraid of the seniors because they don’t care about you at all” she jokingly commented, referring to her fear of the upperclassmen. She then continued by explaining that she wishes should could tell her Freshman self to “Embrace it all and enjoy your time with your friends in your classes because it’s really going to be sad when you’re a senior and you have to leave that group of people.” She believes that this advice can carry on to her life after high school because she believes she will “cherish peoples company more after feeling the sadness of leaving [her] high school friends.”
Patrick’s first word of advice to his past self, “Do what you want to do and not what others say, because your opinion is the only one that matters since your happiness is ultimately the most important.” He gave this advice after explaining that he hasn’t had the easiest time at the high schools he has attended. He believes this advice can apply to the rest of his life, stating that “once you are in the world, you won’t take as many people’s opinions into account because you will start to form your own opinions as you grow up and move through life.” He thinks that once we graduate high school this mentality will begin.
Senior Sienna Langone’s first piece of advice was tailored more towards the academic aspects of high school. “Time management is really important because I ended up wasting a lot of time I could have used to be more productive and prepared in the long run.” She thinks this advice can easily transfer to her life after high school because of the serious opportunity college presents her with. “When you go to college you gain more knowledge for your passion or career goal, so you might as well be prepared for it so it will benefit you as much as it possibly can.” She also wished she could tell her younger self about friendship. “People will show their true selves. Be careful who you rely on, and surround yourself with positive people.” Her last piece of advice to herself was “don’t shave your eyebrows off freshman year.” Relatable.
Drew Whitney wished he spend more of his high school time trying new things. He would like to tell his younger self to “do other things that make you happy outside of school because school isn’t everything. Eventually when you get older you don’t have as much time to do fun kid things.” He thinks this advice is important to remember for life after high school because there are many opportunities that present itself when travel at college, and even working.
Souhegan Senior Shawn Latulippe’s advice was something anyone from any age could benefit from. The advice she gave her younger self was to not stress yourself out so much. She explained that she “always was too much of a perfectionist and [she] would freak out over a B.” She also wished she was more social her first few years being here. “I would tell my Freshman self to be more social and open to meeting new people. I think I was more focused on hanging out with my circle of friends, and I’m still kind of like that I guess. I think that’s something you can always work on.” She too believes that her advice for her younger self will apply to her future because she will be more proactive when it comes to meeting new people, and she will work harder at not beating herself up over.
One thing Souhegan Senior Jeremy Putnam wishes he could tell his younger self is to try a bit harder. “I wish I applied myself more and took my grades more seriously. Freshman year I didn’t take myself seriously and Senior year I realized it was important because it has some amount of influence over getting into college.” Jeremy believes that this advice can apply to his next step which will be attending college, but that the circumstances will be a bit different. “The pattern may continue, so yes I do think I should try a bit harder going into college, but it’s not like I have to apply for things after college, so I don’t think they matter as much.” He believes that he will continue to apply himself in college, not for the grades, but to show his interest and skills in a field that will hopefully become his profession.
SHS Senior Morgan Brown wished she knew how big of the difference between 8th grade and Freshman year there would be. She continued with “at the same time, when I got to Souhegan I wasn’t even worried about the academic part of the transition, I was more scared of my social life. So, if I could tell myself something I would say don’t be as worried as you were because you’ll have a great group of friends, and also dress more confidently because it definitely makes you feel more confident.” She believes that her advice will help in the future because it is important to feel confident and not stress yourself out so much over the fear of the unknown.