This is my high school career: Regine Manuel
Regine Manuel, senior
May 5, 2014
High school was an experience I will never forget, but definitely an experience that I don’t ever want to relive. It had its ups and downs.
I definitely learned more about myself during these past few years. I have learned not to care what others think of you. The more you are concerned about the opinions of other people, the more miserable you will feel and it will bring you down. Keeping myself away from negativity is something I also learned. The less negativity there is, the better life will be.
Academically, I learned to choose classes to fit what I am capable of doing. I made the mistake of taking all Pre-IB classes sophomore year and in the end, it hurt my grades. I thought I could handle it, but didn’t really think it through, and I ended up suffering. I also learned that working hard does pay off. I definitely slacked off at some points, which caused my grades to slip, impacting my overall GPA.
Throughout high school, I know the main thing I’ll remember is all the great friends I made. Without my friends, I don’t know how I would have survived high school. Friends were a very important piece in my high school career.
One piece of advice I would give to my freshman self is to slack off less and have fun. It’s four years of your life, you might as well make the best of it. Choose your friends wisely and don’t be afraid to drop people from your life. That might seem like a bad thing to do, but if someone is having a negative impact on your life, it’s best to cut them out. Also, don’t stress yourself too much because this is just high school, your whole future is ahead of you.
One thing I wish I wouldn’t have done is take all those Pre-IB classes sophomore year because it was the worst year of my high school career. I was too overloaded with work that I was not cut out to do.
Junior year and sophomore year are the two hardest years in my opinion. Senior year, although people say it is easy, can be get very stressful. As a senior you have to worry about grades and making sure you graduate as well as figuring out what you are going to do with your future.
My plans for the future are to go to college at San Francisco State University and major in computer science. After that, hopefully, I’ll get a job and face the real world. I hope to do a lot of traveling too.
My friends definitely helped me to get where I’m at today, as well as my parents. Although I hated the constant nagging of my parents telling me to do good in school, without that I wouldn’t have gotten the grades that I wanted. My friends added fun to my high school years, and they kept me sane.
Overall, I think high school is just a minor part of your life and people need to stop making it a big deal. You do make some good memories with the people you meet and grow as a person, but it’s just four years. There are many more years to come in the future.
