Give me some advice, please.

ClassicRockerDad
Sun, 14 Nov 2010 12:18:35 +0000

In order of importance


Figure out how to be happy. If you can’t be happy in HS, you may never be happy.
Make your goal to become the best person that you can be. Figure out the kind of person that you want to be and go for it. Experiment. Choose to spend your time doing things that you enjoy to further your goal of becoming who you want to be. Enjoy it (see priority 1). Don’t do anything just to impress colleges. Have more self-respect than that. Eliminate all cynicism. Your goal should not be to attend Stanford or the Ivies. That’s not a goal that’s totally within your control, and people who make that their number one goal are not often happy (see priority 1). If you become the person that you want to be and Stanford or the Ivies don’t accept you, then you didn’t really want to go there anyway. Becoming successful is totally within your control. I like PinotNoir’s suggestions.
Get enough sleep. Sleep is critical to your still developing cognitive function. Too many kids screw themselves up permanently by not getting enough sleep. Lack of sleep can also lead to unhealthy stress and poor performance in school. It’s a vicious cycle. Regular sleep is a higher priority than grades because you can survive B’s, but you can’t reach your potential with damaged cognitive function. I’m not talking about an occasional late night to finish a paper or study for a midterm, but if you can’t sleep 8 hours a night on a regular basis, you are damaging yourself.
Do the best that you can in school, but remember that grades are an approximation to reality. Challenge yourself to your capacity, but not beyond (see priority 3). Study hard. Learn how to be effective with your time. Have self-confidence and self-respect. Don’t ever cheat. Not even once.


Only once you have those priorities internalized I might suggest reading something like “A is for Admission” by Michelle Hernandez.