Tips For New Freshman at Galloway
Your first year in high school can be extremely overwhelming. Coming from middle school, you possess a new level of freedom that can be difficult to navigate. Here are some tips, from a senior, to ensure that your year goes as smoothly as possible.
1. Join Clubs
Clubs are some of the most enjoyable parts of high school, and they usually aren’t nearly as big of a commitment as your core classes. During my years as an underclassman, I wasn’t as active within the club community as I could have been; I only joined two clubs the entire year and was only consistently active in one of them.
It wasn’t until midway through my junior year where I began to be more involved in the club scene. I took over Smash Club, joined Moviemaking Club, Tea Club, Culinary Club, and Minority Empowerment Club. It was in these clubs that I joined that I was able to socialize with and form friendships with people I would’ve never talked to before. It opened me up to a plethora of new connections and relationships that I wish I had taken advantage of earlier.
A majority of clubs are also fairly low-commitment in the sense you do not have to usually attend every club meeting, enabling you to learn a lot of new things in a relatively stress-free environment. There is little to no downside to joining clubs, but the upside is priceless. If you see a club that looks interesting to you, try to attend it if you have the time.
2. Get your required credits done early
The two main required credits you have to get from electives before graduation are the two half-credits from “movement” courses (one of which can be achieved from doing two seasons of a sport) and a full art credit. In your freshman year, you will have so many more opportunities to get required credits done than in your later years when your course load begins to get more hectic.
Free periods are also an incredibly valuable thing to have in your later years of highschool, and if you get your required credits done early, frees become a lot easier to schedule. On the contrary, if you’re thinking about taking two or three AP classes in your junior and senior years, but you’re still missing the arts and movement credits you could’ve easily finished up as a freshman, then you might only have time one for one free period to ease your stress instead of two per semester because you need to schedule classes you could’ve easily taken as an underclassman.
You also just don’t want to be that one junior or senior who’s in Kinetic Wellness because you forgot to take it as an underclassman, trust me. It’s not the end of the world if you do so, but from experience, being the only upperclassman in a class is not ideal.
Getting these credits done is extremely easy, and a lot of the time, the classes that you take for them can actually be a lot of fun. Put yourself in a position where you can take them in the time that’s most convenient for you.
3. Take Poli Sci Seriously
This is by far the hardest class you will take as a freshman. Every year I see people fall into the trap of underestimating the course before getting overwhelmed a month in because they’re falling behind.
Poli Sci is the first class you take that truly feels like a genuine highschool course. The standard for work is higher than anything you do in middle school. Assignments in the class are scarce, but as a result, the grades that you do get count for more. Make a concentrated effort to advocate for yourself and plan your time, and be intentional about consistently meeting with Mr. Biglari and Mr. Mathis to get feedback on your scrapbook project, as that counts for around a quarter of your grade.
With that being said, Poli Sci is also one of the most fun classes you’ll ever take in highschool if you do it the right way. Some of the most engaging discussions I’ve had in any Galloway class have come from Poli Sci, and a lot of the subject matter is interesting to learn about. The experience is what you make it, so make it easy for you, and make it fun.
4. Enjoy it, it goes by fast
High school is one of the most memorable times in a lot of people’s lives, so make sure you make the most of it. For me, it feels like I just blinked and these four years just passed me by. Make sure you take advantage of all of the resources you have, and make sure you capitalize off of every opportunity that is provided to you. Is there an after-school activity or sport that you’re apprehensive about joining? Do it. Is there a class that you’re interested in that feels intimidating to you? Take it anyways.
Put yourself out there, and be involved within the school community as much as you can. You may not see the point now, but you never get this time back, so make sure you make the most of it while you can.
By Kailen Hicks