KOM

Seeing as I'll (likely) be mentoring a freshie next year, I thought I would compile a list of advice for freshies. Some of the points may be cliché, (neat, Word automatically tossed the accent in there) but here goes:

• Be yourself: don't try too hard to fit in or be just like everyone else. Being an individual and thinking for yourself are the ways to go. If you have to be someone else to be accepted by certain people, then you probably don't need their acceptance anyway.
  
• Get involved: high school is filled with a whole lot of people, and you probably don't know most of them. So do something about that. Join a club, or a sport, or a society, or a council, or a consortium, or am association, or a guild, or an alliance…. Anything will do. I can almost guarantee you that if you take the time to get involved with something that interests you and make an effort to reach out to some people, you'll quickly make some new friends
  
• Accept change: high school is different than middle school. A lot of changes take place. Some of them you may not like. However, the quicker you learn to accept these changes, the sooner they'll stop worrying you as much, and the sooner you can enjoy the good changes
  
• Don't slack off: high school offers lots of neat opportunities to do a lot of different things. But it's still school. You're there to learn (or at least, to keep up the appearance of such). So pay attention in class and do your homework. If you don't understand something, then ask questions, and always request help if you feel you need it. These tips will help keep your grades up, and who doesn't want good grades?
  
• Sleep: this lesson was the one of the hardest for me to personally follow. Sleep is very important. How much of it you get can affect your mood, your grades, your entire day! So always try your best to get a good night's sleep. Eight to nine hours would be best. I know it's tempting to stay up late and indulge whatever strikes your fancy in the wee hours of the morning. Trust me- I've been there. But just try to get some sleep instead. I can promise you it will be worth it.
  

And last but not least:

• Be confident: this is the most important lesson I can teach you. Be confident in what you do. Take risks. Don't be afraid to make mistakes- the worst thing that can happen is that you're wrong. If, and when, that happens, admit you messed up, but keep going. Learn from the experience. People learn far more from their failures than they do from their successes. This applies not just to high school, but to your entire life. Have confidence in your actions, and I promise you that success will follow.