How to Survive High School

Tomorrow (August 11) is the first day of my SENIOR year of high school, and I am actually feeling super excited!! This summer has been wonderful, but I kind of miss hustling hard for school. It’s a weird feeling. Hopefully, this optimistic spirit stays with me! Towards the end of my summer, I started thinking about what I’ve learned from the past 3 years of high school, especially junior year. Junior year was by far the most challenging year of my life. I thought that it would be helpful if I wrote down (or in this case, typed out) what I’ve learned and some words of motivation for myself when it starts to get difficult this school year.

Without further ado, here is a rough draft of my personal guide to surviving senior ANY year Of high school.

1] AFRAID OF TRYING SOMETHING NEW? JUST DO IT.
Enough said. Just do it! Sometimes, our insecurities or outside pressure discourages us from taking that leap of faith or doing something out of the ordinary. In these situations, it is important to be confident with who you are and your abilities. Don’t let the negativity hold you back from taking an opportunity that might never come your way again.

2] FAILURE IS INEVITABLE. DON’T BE AFRAID OF FAILING.
One of my biggest fears is failing. I hate the feeling of failure. However, I’ve realized that the feeling of regret is worse. There have been times when I did not take advantage of an opportunity because I was afraid that my abilities or opinion wouldn’t be good enough. Not taking a chance didn’t make me feel any better about myself. It just left me feeling regretful. I think that the best way to overcome this fear is to have the mindset that “sometimes you win, sometimes you learn”. Failure is inevitable. You’ve just got to learn from your experience and move on with an optimistic spirit. Often times, the things that you learn from failing makes you a better and stronger person.

3] COMPARING IS YOUR WORST ENEMY. YOU ARE GOOD ENOUGH.
We’ve all compared ourself to someone who we think is so much better, leaving us very demoralized. It’s human nature to do so. Recently, I watched a video called “5 Reasons You Will Succeed” by Lilly Singh aka iiSuperwomanii. In the video, she talked about how we are all unique in our own ways. Every individual has a different gift to share to the world. No other person can be you. With this in mind, we should not feel the need to compare ourselves to each other!

4] IT’S OKAY TO BE WEIRD/DIFFERENT. JUST BE YOU.
The word “weird” is subjective. What defines weird? If you like to tell cheesy puns or wear mismatched socks, don’t stop doing it because other people think it’s weird in a bad way. I saw this quote on Pinterest that said “I’m not weird. I’m limited edition!”. There have been times when I questioned whether or not to quit wearing skirts and dresses everyday. Thoughts like “people at school probably think I’m weird” would run through my mind. Their fashion and my style is completely different! I later realized, why in the world do I care what they think? I’m not living for their approval. I love wearing skirts and dresses! Be true to yourself. You’ll be happier :).

5] DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF. LIFE IS SO MUCH BIGGER.
This is something that I have to work on. I often get so invested in what I’m doing that I worry way too much about it, even if it isn’t that important. If I do poorly, for example on a test, it is not the end of the world! If you think about it, a bad test grade is insignificant in terms of what you do your whole life. Don’t sweat the small stuff because it really doesn’t matter in the long run.

6] DON’T BE JUDGMENTAL. MEET PEOPLE.
I think that the media has set up our expectations for how certain people will act. Obliviously, we end up judging a person even before meeting them. This year, I want to be more open to meeting others and try not to be so shy.

7] ENJOY THE RIDE, SMILE MORE, AND DON’T FORGET TO PRAY.
High school has passed by quickly. I remember the summer when I decided to start this blog! I’m going to try and enjoy senior year and not get so caught up with studying. When things start to get hard, I just have to remember to smile more (any Roman Atwood fans?) and pray.

It’s 11:21 PM as I’m writing this very sentence. There are a whole lot more lessons that I’ve missed, but I think that this makes a pretty good rough draft. What do you think? I hope that at least one of these helps you in some way! Thanks for reading!

love,
Blaze Ann

outfit deets:
polka dot top | Zara
skirt | Target
purse | Forever 21
sandals | Payless