Dear freshman,

Welcome to High School, the biggest four years of your life that will be the one of the ultimate deciding factors of your future.  I know, it sounds scary and intimidating, but it’s also the four most memorable years that you’ll look back on one day and wish to relive one more time.  High school consist of making mistakes and learning valuable lessons from them, having fun while you’re still a teenager and lastly growing a little each year closer to discovering the person you’ll be in the future.  Now, none of this comes without hard work and dedication so being that I have had little experience in this area, I am going to do my best to prepare you for the rocky road ahead.

There are two things colleges look at the most, that is your GPA and your test scores.  Now you may think “I don’t have to worry about that, I’m only a freshman” and that is one hundred percent incorrect.  In high school, you will get a GPA each year beginning freshman year therefore colleges will see them.  So it is important you take your grades seriously regardless of whether the class is PE or art because it all counts.  Most importantly remember that your teachers and counselors are there for you and want to help you move in the right direction, so ask questions and get help after school if you are struggling.

Now for the SATs and the ACTs that you will take either junior or senior year, you need to get as much practice as possible because these test aren’t easy and they get hard as the years go by.  A lot of the test is old information from previous years that they expect you to remember so buy the practice book and sign up for all the practice/mock exams that the college and career center provides to get insight to what the test is like.  When I took the SAT, I did okay but not good enough for the school I wanted to get into.  I learned the hard way and now I currently have been getting tutored for a month now preparing for my next SAT.  Learn from me and take every opportunity you’re given to better yourself.

When it comes to deciding what career you want to pursue, it can be quite overwhelming with so many options, you want to pick the right one.  My advice would be to choose classes at Heritage, or the school that you go to, that are in common with your interest and what’s unique about Heritage is that they offer the career academies.  They have an academy for health and recreation, law, government and public services, environmental science and engineering technologies and each have classes that relate to the academy so you can get an idea of the field you are interested in studying when you go to college. From there choose what ultimately makes you happy because if you end up getting into a career that you hate waking up and going to everyday, then you will be unhappy and have regrets.  Do not think about the job that gets you the most money or the best benefits, although those are careful considerations, they should not be what between you and what truly makes you happy.

Hopefully, this advice was helpful to you and you’ll use it as you grow these next four years.  There is so much to learn, so I encourage you to venture out of your comfort zone, discover something new about yourself and make something out high school.  I wish you the best of luck, you’ll do great! And remember everything in life happens for a reason so don’t get discouraged.

Best of wishes,

Caitlyn Summers

P.S I would highly suggest having a visit to the college and career center for information and help with college requirements and testing.