Dear all freshmen,

As a senior, I feel the need and responsibility to give you some advice about how to survive Powell High School. Yeah, sure, people will tell you that you need to study, work hard, be prepared. That’s all true, but from my experience, that’s not all it takes to so-called “survive” high school and successfully graduate at the end of your senior year.

What follows is what I’ve learned … and how I have made it this far:

Step 1: Give up.

No, not give up as in drop out, I mean you can’t have as high expectations of high school as you did in middle school. High school is completely different, and if you keep those same expectations, it’s not going to end well for you. The classes are going to be harder (this isn’t meant to scare you, but to inform you) so you need to be in the right mindset to put in some more effort if you want to succeed. Some may exceed those expectation, some may just barely slide by. It all depends on how you choose to take on this adventure

Step 2: Run Away

Please, please do NOT actually run in the halls or around the school. That is a one-way ticket on how to get all the upperclassmen to hate you. What I mean is you need to have an escape. Your mind is going to be pushed hard because the teachers expect so much of you that you need to be able to escape that pressure and just be yourself. In clas. You’re going to be expected to be able to take in a lot of information quickly and in order to do that, you also need to find a way to help you organize those thoughts. This way when tests or finals come around, you’re not scrambling around trying to study. High school is a busy place, so you need to learn how to run away from that stress and find ways to embrace the stress that way you don’t run into trouble

Step 3: Appreciate college classes

The school pays for you to take college classes. Think about that. People all over the world pay thousands of dollars to take college classes while here at Powell High School, you can take them on the college campus, for free, during school hours. This means you have the option of taking a class that gives you both high school and college credit. To me, that is a major blessing. Another upside for you is gaining those college credits means you don’t have to take as many classes in college. Most colleges make you pay per credit. Because of these classes, you’re getting credits for free, saving you money in the long run that you could use for your Ramen dinner in your dorm room.

Step 4: Do NOT annoy the upperclassmen.

Freshmen, you need to know and understand that, yet again, you are at the bottom of the food chain. This means that all the sophomores, juniors and especially seniors will reign over you for the entire year. If you can remember, there has been a sign that has been hung up on the walls every year since my freshman year that claims, “freshmen are friends, not food.” I have come to realize over the years is not only is that sign for comedic relief for the freshmen on the first week of school, it’s also a reminder for upperclassmen to not eat you alive. It has always been a cliche for the freshmen to be hated. To you, that may not seem fair. However, when you get to your junior or senior year, you will feel that inevitable hatred. It’s not toward any specific person, just to the term “freshmen” as a whole.

Step 5: Understand the rules of the hallway.

There are none. Even if there are, everyone ignores them and yet they still complain about everyone else around them. There is no “side of the hall” you are required to walk on. There is no set “pace” you have to follow … but, if you are the kind of person who walks against the flow and you’re taking your precious time getting to your next class, I guarantee you will get trampled by the very agitated crowd slowly gathering behind you.

Step 6: Avoid Responsibilities.

High school is rough enough without the added on responsibilities, so why would you do that to yourself and take on some more? It’s worse if you’re in college and AP classes, which are harder by definition. When all of your homework piles up, you’re going to want to have a mental breakdown because you don’t have time for everything. Sure sports and clubs are awesome on college applications and sure they create great memories, but you really have to consider how much time you personally have. Not everyone’s schedule is the same.

Step 7: Try again later.

Most of the time during high school, you are going to just want to lay down and take a nap. During class, I seriously don’t recommend this. However, there have been many a time when a nap was all I needed to get my motivation rolling again. There are going to be assignments or projects that make you so frustrated that you just have to walk away from them. My advice to you is to do just that. Take a break. Go outside. Take a well deserved nap. Just don’t procrastinate too long or else you will regret it. We all know that you are going to anyways, so I wish you the best of luck.

Step 8: Eventually things will improve

I’m not going to lie to you. This is not going to be the most fun part of your life, but you will have some fun. However, right now, it feels like a prison being stuck inside a school all day. After three full years at PHS, I can confirm that Senioritis is real, so try hard now. Eventually, that bright-eyed look you have in your eyes will disappear and you will be faced with the fact that real life is coming at you fast and it makes you want to yell at everyone but you can’t because you NEED to graduate in order to succeed.

It’s weird for me to call myself a senior because all my life, I’ve dreamed of the moment I could say I’m a senior and I’m applying to colleges and scholarships and planning out my future. Now that it’s here, I wish it hadn’t gone so fast. My last bit of advice to all the freshmen is to savor the moment. Time flies by fast so you’re going to want to go back. Have fun through these next four years. High school may be hard and boring, but I’ve had a great time so far.

Sincerely,

Kenadee Bott,

Prowl News Editor

Class of 2019