By Darrel Washington, Staff Writer
Do you remember entering high school? Feelings of uncertainty but excitement flood your mind.
The thankfulness when you realized it wasn’t like the movies and there was no popular clique of rude females that everyone knew and loved, or football jocks who picked on everyone with high IQs and stole their lunch money. While we did not have to put up with those sort of things, high school is still a wild ride with many bumps and turns.
High school offers many firsts that compound the stress of school work: new friends, relationships, first job, first car.
Work. Work. Work. Work. Work:
It feels like that’s all school is at times. Though it will often feel like something made to just cripple you and bring you down, try to remember that this is not the case. The work is intended to help you with future careers and personal struggles. Schools don’t know what every single student wants to do for a career or even what will happen to them in the future. That is why there is such a large variety of things to learn in school. What may be useless to you today, may be useful to you later or to someone else.
Ways to combat workloads and low grades are by taking steps such as setting up study groups with friends. Your friends can help with organizing, studying, and anything else.
Another good way to tackle work overflow is to map everything out. Make a list of everything you need to work on (in order of due dates), assign what to do to certain days, and keep track of what you finish for each day.
“Leave and I’ll hurt myself.” “You know I don’t like when you do this.” “You’re lucky I’m even still with you.”
Sentences like these are huge signs of a toxic, abusive relationship. Other signs include violent actions from one or both partners, one partner pulling away from the people and things they love to the wishes of the other, and more. If a partner is abusive in any way and no chance of change apparent, then it’s usually best to end the relationship as soon as possible. If they make threats against you or themselves if you try to leave, then it is best to call the police as soon as possible for the safety of both partners.
Under no circumstances should the relationship be reformed. If necessary, it’s best to see a therapist to help with talking about it. It is best to move on rather than to dwell on something that brought pain.
A huge issue and controversial subject among the teenage populace right now is mental health. While mental disabilities and disorders are very common, they still aren’t understood. In high school today you will interact with people battling various disorders. You get a general understanding of symptoms, behavior, and treatments. Learn patience. You can’t rush things like happiness and complete well being. It comes with time and treatment. If a friend needs serious help, then action must be taken. If they cannot get professional help, then have them seek help from a trusted individual such as a parent, school counselor, or even a friend.
Listen to their issues, try to spend time with them, check in with them, introduce them to new people, and just do whatever you can to help them.
Have you ever gotten in a fight that resulted in you losing your friends?
Or maybe even you don’t get invited out much, leaving you alone constantly? If so, chances are you’re pretty lonely. While loneliness can lead to feeling very miserable, it can be beaten.
In this day and age, technology has become a centerpiece of society and it’s hard not to find someone who doesn’t use it daily. This makes it easy to make friends over the internet. Xbox, Instagram, Discord, or Bumble. Friends can be made anywhere, you just have to know where to look.
High school is hard, but you will make it through.