The Tattoo - August 27, 2006

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VOLUME 13, NUMBER 1

Insider's Guide to High School

Last one sitting

My clearest memory of my first day in high school is frantically scanning the 200-plus faces in the cafeteria, desperate to find a familiar one, willing myself to radiate a sense of cool and maturity as I tightened my grip on a Pocahontas lunch box.

I ended up sitting on the deserted end of an otherwise full bench, which I later learned is the designated special ed table.

Two years later, I realize the cafe was full of future friends and even more kind-hearted individuals that would have been happy to share their bit of gray Formica with a freshman refugee.

– By Molly Horan

When Hurricane Katrina smashed ashore last August 29th, Louisiana teen Samantha Perez started writing about the storm that washed away much of her old life. Her journal, chronicled in the pages of The Tattoo, is all online at Hurricane Journal. Read it for an eye-opening and intensely personal look into the eye of the worst storm in recent history.

Beyond the high school experience:

Advice you should take, but probably won't

The ironic thing about writing advice for incoming freshman is that they’re at a point in their lives where they don’t necessarily feel like they should listen to anyone else’s advice – or at least they don’t openly admit they want advice.

I once tried to give freshman advice to my younger cousin when he was entering high school. I might as well have tried to preach the Bible to the Dalai Lama.

There’s a lot more to navigating high school then how to get from one class to the next on time, managing your time and money, getting noticed by the opposite sex, and eventually getting ready to apply to college, even though that’s what most people think about when the subject of getting through high school comes up.

– By Stefan Koski

Try new things in high school

As a freshman entering high school, you might believe you are compelled to think about the future. Worries about what the coming years will be like and the feeling that there are ages until graduation probably torments your head.

It’s true that you need to start worrying about the future, but you don’t need to decide right now the way your life will go. Actually, that is the main – or should be – the main reason you are going to attend high school.

It’s not to get a diploma, be popular or be an overachiever. Your main goal should be to discover your hidden potential and exploit it.

– By Oscar Ramirez

By Justin Skaradosky/ The Tattoo

Must-have books for high school

As a wise, weathered senior, I've seen them all. Blue and red, hardcover and paperback. Ugly and attractive. Easy, cheap reads and dense, thoughtful tomes.

Here's the cream of the crop, nice additions to your library that will supplement any bored student's education. (Okay, I'm a geek. But they're great for impressing your teachers.) I've limited myself to one per subject. -- By Michel Lee

Insider's Guide to High School

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