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Surviving extracurriculars
You've finally made it. Welcome to high
school. The big dogs. The world is your oyster.
Sort of.
Odds are, you were probably presented with a wide variety of options when you
entered high school. Sports, debate team, mathletes, Amnesty International, the
list goes on. Everything sounds intriguing and inviting, right?
Well, look before you leap into after-school activities.
– By Leah Igdalsky
How to survive first day syndrome
Maybe it
doesn’t show in psychology texts, but it exists and has a name: it’s called
first day syndrome.
The
symptoms are fear, discomfort and loss of self-esteem and it can infect all high
school freshmen.
Being in a new school can be very difficult for students. It’s easy to imagine
how much harder it could be if you don’t have any friends with you or if you are
afraid you won’t be able to hold up under the pressures of school.
But
there is a remedy for this syndrome you can easily take.
– By Eugenia Durante
Be proactive
Life at a
small high school is many different things. Sometimes, it’s a pain knowing
everyone, knowing everything, and never seeing a new face. Other times, it’s
cozy and comforting to know all of the students.
The biggest challenge at a
large high school is creating opportunities to stand out, while in small high
schools, some of these opportunities are just waiting for students to take
advantage of them.
I’ve
always wanted to be the student council president. With a small student body, my
high school also has a small student council. Since sixth grade, I’ve dreamed of
being the president – and now, as a senior, I am!
-- By Rachel Miller
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By Justin Skaradosky/
Youth Journalism International
It does actually matter!
There are some differences between high schools in South Africa and high schools
in America, the United Kingdom or Australia.
For
one, our school year starts in January.
For
another, almost everybody wears a school uniform.
The
schools here are often in ruins – a sad reminder of our past. My school has
electricity, computers, clean running water, security and spacious classrooms. I
am one of the lucky few.
We
also have probably THE laziest and most inefficient Department of Education in
the world!
Besides that? We also have those little cliquey groups – jocks, plastics,
ghettos, nerds, music boffs. We have parties that we wish we never went to, we
have students in drunken driving accidents, and we have break-time brawls and
girls who cry in the bathrooms over their last heartbreak.
The
fact is, while school systems, morals and personalities vary the world over, the
psyche of high school students remain pretty much the same.
-- By Mariechen
Puchert
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