Being at Centennial for every year of high school, I have some advice for specifically freshmen but also other classes as well.

Don’t slack on work or be the “class clown” all the time and get in trouble. It will eventually catch up to you later down your high school career that will make it harder on you and your chances outside of high school. The freshman year will be difficult because of the fact of transitioning from middle school to a big high school but the harder you work and pay attention the easier even second semester will be. At the times of slacking off you might not think it as a big deal at the time but when you have to take summer school classes and credit recovery you might regret it.

If you play sports they all require certain grades. They are all different for every sport. For volleyball last season, for example, we could only have one bad grade. If we had more than that we wouldn’t be allowed to play unless it went up. My coach at least always checked our grades and attendance for school. Other sports I am not aware of what happens but I am guessing it is all somewhat similar. It can be hard to manage both sports and school but you adjust to it. And when you play a club sport or that sport outside of the school season it helps you figure it out even more because even if it isn’t everyday, it still is the same concept.

Make sure that if there is a family or health situation that is going to make school difficult for you, tell a teacher. They will understand if you are honest with them instead of keeping it to yourself and them get on you about not doing work. Teachers will work with you if you let them during certain hard times. I lost two family members and even though it was hard to tell my teachers, it put less stress on me about keeping up with school things because of the situation.

Even though I did still have to do everything (obviously), it made it just that much easier to be honest especially close to the end of senior year. Life gets in the way in many different ways but when you are able to tell your teachers it helps with trust and in how that teachers perspective is with you.

Having good attendance will really help with schooling and how your grades are. When you skip a lot or even so often, you will end up getting caught more likely than getting caught. The more trouble you get into because of attendance the deeper of a hole you’ll dig yourself which makes it harder to get out of it.

If there is a certain reason you will be gone such as doctor appointments or other out of school obligations, that won’t go against you as long as you have a note or been called in by a parent or guardian. When you have bad attendance for skipping or just not wanting to go it will catch up to you’re schooling and grades you will have. This is because you will be playing catch up with all the work you have missed. Skipping classes even for other classes to get homework done isn’t good still. It is similar to slacking off and getting in trouble. It’s a good thing to have as good of attendance as possible because without it you could make your life a lot harder for yourself.

A big one is don’t be mean or talk back to your teachers. You may think that it is funny or cool to do but it isn’t. Teachers are the people giving you the grades and decide what type of punishment you get for disrespecting them. If you mess around in your classes but then later need them for help with other classes, like tech and careers, or for graduation, you could potentially lose that for yourself. Some freshmen, especially, think that messing around and talking back to teachers is funny.

But when you have that same teacher later down the road, for English as an example, they more then likely will remember what you did and make your life a little more difficult because of how you decided to act as a Freshman. It goes along with slacking with your work in the sense of it can make or break you in the end.

Even though I have talked about keeping yourself out of trouble or just getting through high school, make sure you make it fun. A lot of things will change throughout school. Don’t take your education for granted. Be someone you want to be and treat others the way you want to be treated. Go to the school games or dances or join clubs. It’s all about figuring out what you enjoy doing. Don’t always hold back from things. Make your life fun while also pushing yourself academically because you never know what will interest you.

If I could give one big piece of advice it would be to stay safe with whatever you are doing. It is always hard seeing horrible things happen to people that go or have previously been to Centennial. Always watch out for you and your friends. If you hear things that seem a little suspicious, tell an adult. Every life matters in school or out of it.

High school is tough. Life is tough. But if you can, be a “kid” for as long as you can do it.

Preparing for going into the “real world” is a scary thing to do. Regardless of it you think you can’t get through something, you can. There are people that are behind you through everything. Don’t mess that up because you think being cool is more important. High school prepares you for the rest of your life. But everyone here has got it. You all will get through it. If something is tough just breathe and remember it isn’t as hard as you probably think it is.

Always remember,

“Once An Eagle, Always An Eagle”