As the new school year begins, it brings new classes, new friends, and even a completely new school for some. One huge change within Taylorsville is the addition of Freshmen. We were all in their shoes at some point, terrified of this new, gigantic school. To help make this new experience a little less scary, we’ve asked current Taylorsville seniors what the do’s and don’ts of high school are and some things that would be helpful for new students.

Classes

Choosing your classes every year is always important because you need to make sure you’re taking the right ones in order to graduate. Senior Linh Ngo says, “Be sure that you’re on top of your game and on track to graduate because by the time it’s your senior year, you’ll want to relax and not take any classes at all.” Another thing to take into consideration while choosing classes is what you want to do as a career. GTI classes are classes that offer hands-on learning that give students the opportunity to explore possible careers. Some GTI classes include criminal justice, dental hygienist, and pharmacy tech. You are able to learn about subjects from the perspectives of people who have careers in those subjects. “I regret not taking GTI classes my tenth grade year. They’re really awesome.” Caitlin Bone, a senior, states. With all of the classes that Taylorsville offers, making sure you’re not only taking the right classes, but also taking classes that you want to take is vital because you want to make sure you actually like the classes you are in. 

Activities

Though high school can be stressful at times, there are so many fun activities that make up for it. From the dances, to the sports games, Taylorsville always has some type of activity going on for students to enjoy. To name just a few of the sports teams that you can join is the football team, the swim team, and the baseball team. In addition to sports teams, there are many clubs to join. Some clubs here at Taylorsville are Earth club, Key club, Drama club, and more. Besides sports games and clubs, there are many other activities that are put on throughout the school year. Some activities to look forward to are prom, spirit week, and school plays. Senior Kaitlyn Hansen says, “I think what makes high school fun is what you put into it. If you aren’t having fun in high school, but you’re not going to activities, you’re not getting involved, I think naturally it’s not going to be fun for you but we’ve got a lot of different clubs and a lot of different activities at the high school and if you put yourself out there and make an effort to go to those activities and find things you like, that’s gonna make high school a good experience for everyone.” There are plenty of activities to choose from for everyone and participating in them are what make high school enjoyable. 

Do’s and Don’ts 

Every little thing that you do in high school will have an effect on you, whether that effect is negative or positive is up to you to decide. Here are some quick do’s and don’ts to help minimize regret and help you make better decisions that will overall benefit you. “Don’t date seniors, stay away from seniors. They’re not good for you, just don’t do it.” says Senior Corben Cox. Dating in general in high school can be complicated, but dating someone either younger or older than you can be especially risky. Always be aware of who you’re dating and make sure that the relationships that you’re in are healthy. 

Kaitlyn Hansen says one ‘do’ is, “To always be your genuine self. You don’t have to put up a front, you don’t have to put up a façade at high school. Just be comfortable, be you, and you’re gonna find people that you have a lot in common with, as long as you’re being true to yourself.” Staying true to yourself is one of the most important things you can do in high school and you’ll overall be more happy. 

Finally, “Don’t be scared to make new friends.” says Senior Kevin Bautista. Making new friends can be scary, but being yourself is the easiest way to make new friends that you’ll genuinely like. 

Wise Words of Advice

Seniors have a lot of knowledge when it comes to high school. Here are some words of advice from Taylorsville seniors; “Be involved in whatever you’re passionate about. If there’s nothing for you here, then you should create something for yourself” says Corben Cox. If you find a reason to come to high school it will become a lot more bearable. If you come to school just to come and get it over with, it’ll start to become repetitive and monotonous and you’ll start to hate school. Finding a reason or a motive to keep you wanting to come to school is an easy way to make high school a lot more enjoyable. Whether that may be your friends, or a class, or a club that you’re in, finding something that makes you look forward to coming to school will overall make you a lot happier. 

These past two years have been a completely different experience for all of us because of the pandemic. Our experience in high school has been and will continue to be so different compared to the normal high school experience. Dances were cancelled, sports were cancelled, we were learning completely online; it’s been insane to say the least. When asked what he thought made high school fun, Cameron Stewart stated, “Everything that Covid took away from us is what makes it fun, anything that you couldn’t do last year that you can do this year.” The pandemic took away a lot from us, so now that we’re slowly getting back to normal, learn to appreciate everything that we weren’t able to do last year. Whether that be the sports games or the dances, or even the small things like hanging out with your family and friends or just coming to school, appreciate it. 

Sometimes, you’ll find yourself comparing yourself to others. Our generation is one that is constantly online and utilizes social media the most. Though this is great and fun, it also comes with many negatives. When people post on social media, they only post the positive. Obviously, you only want people to see the good parts of your lives so you’ll only post the good parts. This creates the illusion that people’s lives are perfect, which plainly isn’t true. You’ll find yourself scrolling through social media comparing yourself and your life with others, and it will overall leave you feeling dejected and less than your worth. But, no matter how put together or how perfect their life looks or how beautiful people seem, it’s important to remember that social media is fake. Social media fabricates people’s lives, so comparing yours to theirs will do nothing but make you feel down. So just keep in mind that social media is not real. 

  “This is your time to be alive, to connect with other people, and you can’t let yourself get embarrassed by things” Kaitlyn Hansen states. A lot of times you’ll find yourself worried about what others think of you or of people judging you. This typically results in you hiding your true self and becoming self-conscious. Not worrying what others think of you and being yourself is so much easier said than done, but once you start to not care what others think of you and not get embarrassed from doing things, you’ll feel so much better and be so much more confident. The phrase “Be yourself” is such a cliché thing to say and is definitely over said, but when you truly accept yourself and be who you are, you’ll overall have a more memorable high school experience. 

We hope you new students found this helpful and utilize the advice given. Good luck and have an awesome school year!