Returning to High School Life & Freaking Out...

Pre-College Topics High School Cafe
1

<p>Let me explain my situation by starting from the beginning…</p>

<p>Well I had just started my current high school back in mid-Sophomore year and I kept to myself a lot because I felt I didn’t fit in. I literally could count how many friends I had on one hand. So once my sophomore year ended, I was qualified to be a full-time DE student and went with that for my full junior year and summer before this upcoming senior year. ALL my time was spent at the college, only went to the high school for advisement appointments or other important stuff. Barely any high school students at my school participated in DE classes at the college, so I had little friends since majority of my classmates were adults with full-time jobs, married, and had kids to feed every night. </p>

<p>Sadly, because of a family emergency there could be anytime during the year that my family may decide to relocate/move to Georgia immediately (right now I reside in Florida). Well, I got all of my high school credits done and really have to no classes but Economics to worry about for graduation (well another science if I end up moving to GA). Due to this situation and discussing different options, I chose to drop my full-time dual enrollment status and I went ahead and just chose to go back to high school altogether.</p>

<p>Here’s my struggle…</p>

<p>As I mentioned earlier, I kept to myself during my only 5 months of attending the high school because I felt like there was no place for me in the social crowd and I REALLY want to get over my social anxiety while I’m still in high school (if I keep this up all the way to college, I feel I would have a hard time). I’m African American and there is a few people within the school who have negative attitudes towards minorities so I’m scared of encountering that…again (during my 5 months of attendance, I had a few racial slurs thrown at me). Although I may be moving, this same struggle will still exist for me at my new school.</p>

<p>I guess I’m asking how I can adjust back in high school life? What is socially-expected of a senior? When I was in DE classes, certain students didn’t like me because I was always answering questions, communicating with the professor, and turning in assignments on-time (basically an “ideal” student), should I withhold this behavior once I return to HS to prevent being slandered? I already picture myself looking all clueless during lunch time, looking for a seat. Or pulling out my phone when I’m not suppose to since I’m use to having professors who’s okay with phones being out on our desks. Or even forgetting to get my planner signed when I need to go to the restroom lol.</p>

<p>My guidance counselor told me that this situation is rare so I really wouldn’t expect anyone to relate to me. But any upcoming seniors or even graduates (if they still visit this board) could give me any advice. I know I maybe should just wait and see what happens on my first day back (which is August 18th) but this whole thing is driving…me…crazy.</p>

<p>If anyone cared, this is my schedule (full-year and not in this order / no official schedule until first day):
AP Macroeconomics
AP Art History
AP Calculus BC
AP Environment Science / Chemistry I Honors (Depending on if APES has availability)
AP 2D Art
Guitar II
Digital Design I</p>

<p>So yeah, again, since I don’t need any more credits, I just did courses that could go towards GE classes at my prospective university and also classes I just wanted to take for fun (Guitar, Digital Deisgn…Calculus lol).</p>

<p>And OMG…sorry for this LARGE post…but thank you for taking the time to read my life problems :)</p>

2

<p>“When I was in DE classes, certain students didn’t like me because I was always answering questions, communicating with the professor, and turning in assignments on-time (basically an “ideal” student), should I withhold this behavior once I return to HS to prevent being slandered?”</p>

<p>I just wanted to clarify my question. I would still turn in assignments and do well and such. I just want to know if I should probably keep quiet during discussions or refrain from student participation.</p>

3

<p>No it’s fine. When you’re in class and a discussion has started that people are participating in, then you can and should too. The problem comes when you participate excessively. One problem would be if you were trying to have a in depth conversation with your professor during class. That honestly makes people extremely annoying, because he/she needs to know that this isn’t a private lesson. Also, when you are in a group discussion with other students during class, talk as much as you want, but let everyone talk, and don’t go on a 5 minute speech. When you are going to lunch, try to find someone that was in one of your classes, and say “hey you’re in my **** class right? Mind if I sit with you guys?” or something like that. DO NOT SIT ALONE. If you really can’t find anyone who seems cool that you have had a class with, then sit by yourself for the first day, but no more. If someone tries to be racist to you, and you know he isn’t just playing around, then go up to him and tell him to stop. If they are just messing around with you, then you can mess around with him too, and say whatever you want. </p>

4

<p>Lol honesty, just be yourself. It doesn’t matter what they think about you because they don’t have the right to judge you. Just do what you would normally do and help out other classmate. All you got to do is gain respect and you’re good. Gaining respect might get you some friends.</p>

<p>Just continue what you would normally do at DE and you’re good for the rest of the school year. Someone tries to be a jerk or bully, just don’t listen to them and just pretend you hear nothing. If you can’t stand it, tell them to stop or else I’ll tell on you. It sounds stupid but why let someone ruin your life when all it takes is just telling the teacher about what happened. It is simple and painless. It only hurts if you allow it to hurt you.</p>

5

<p>Thanks guys for the replies so far. I really appreciate your replies and understand your advice and propositions. I guess I’m just afraid of judgement. In DE classes, many people (surprisingly) kept their judgments to themselves. Judging is the major battle when it comes to social life and experiences, well at least in my area. I really should just see how this first day go. The first day usually can predict how the rest of the year may come out.</p>

<p>And once I think about it, being myself had gotten me through middle school, which was a blessing due to the circumstances of the school I was attending. I was basically an alien when it came to personality at my old middle school! But I was able to gain a strong and really appraising reputation. Although I did socialize here and there, I kept to myself from time to time. I really should just relate this situation with my past experiences.</p>

<p>Lol, I couldn’t ask my parents for help or advisement about this. They’ve been through so much in life and would call me a wimp, sometimes they can be more cruel than ignorant high school students @-) </p>

6

<p>I think the biggest thing “expected” of seniors, as kind of stated above, is confidence. You should be confident enough to answer class questions without fear of ridicule. You should be confident enough to walk over to people and introduce yourself and talk to them. You should be confident enough to tell any haters and racists that you’re not going to take their ****. Because guess what? People who judge you DON’T MATTER. At all. You just need to focus on being you, don’t give a damn what others think of you. If you have the drive to succeed, you’ll show them all up.</p>

<p>(Sorry for the semi-personal rant; I’ve been where you are and feel strongly about this.)
tl;dr: Hold your head up, and be you.</p>

7

<p>You need to be aware that while you have satisfied the requirements for graduation from your hs you may not have the courses required to apply to all universities.
Do you have 4 years of English, 2-3 years of the same foreign language, etc?
Look up the requirements of the colleges you will be applying and adjust your schedule as needed.
Focus on completing your SAT/ACT testing, college applications.
In life and in high school, there are MORE people that will accept you than will reject you.</p>

<p>You can’t control what happens to your family circumstances but you can control how to react to uncomfortable social interactions and how to carry yourself as a confident and approachable person.</p>

<p>Participate in classes within your comfort level, it takes a while for a class to gel with the teacher and students as a group.
Hang out in the band room during lunch, there are always kids playing music.
Guitarists are stoked to help each other by showing new tricks and getting better by playing as much as possible.
Or hang out in the art studio, there are always kids working on their projects.
Those two are in your comfort level and you will easily find friends there and a refuge from the cafeteria drama.
Turn off your phone when you get to campus and don’t look at it until lunch/end of the school day, it is a crutch to avoid speaking to others during times of award silence.
Good luck.</p>

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<p>@ivyhopes12 Don’t worry, your personal rant help me look at my situation in a new way :slight_smile:
Although I love who I am in the inside, I always seem to worry about how people evaluate who I am from the outside. And I should be smart enough to know that’s not complete confidence. Your response has inspired me to really start focusing on building my confidence. I mean I don’t beat myself up on every little thing and I’m not paranoid but meeting new people is a make-or-break situation with me. Then again, I’m looking for people that’ll be great company for laughter and support during my last year of high school, maybe even people I can keep up with after graduation.</p>

<p>@beerme I actually got all my credits taken care of high school wise and I’ve been picking up courses that’ll go towards exempting me from general education courses in college. Although I am happy with my current ACT & SAT scores, I do plan to retake both for more scholarship opportunities. I’ve already gotten early acceptance for the colleges I’ve been looking into and only need to do some tours of them sometime this year. Oh and when it comes to foreign languages…I’ve completed 2 years of Spanish…and Chinese…and 3 years of French. I overdid myself a bit with that requirement but the extras went towards elective credits and I hope to study abroad plenty in the future. Thanks for the recommendation for hangout spots. I’ll be at school after dismissal for about 30 minutes to an hour so having a great place to converse and even collab with some other students in music jams or art projects would be great. I’m pretty sure there’s somewhere on campus where this is happening and I can’t believe I didn’t even think of that in the first place. And:</p>

<p>“In life and in high school, there are MORE people that will accept you than will reject you.”</p>

<p>…I feel like I need to write this somewhere so that I can read it everyday.</p>

<p>Overall, thank you both so much for taking the time to read my situation, your responses has helped immensely :)</p>