My High School Experience

Hello, I am Jacqulyn Kepple, and welcome to my first blog post. I am currently going into being a Senior at University High School in Orange City, FL. I wrote a similar message like the one below, to my younger cousin, who started High school 2 years ago.

High school is a big milestone in most people's lives. It is where you are supposed to grow up and start figuring out what you want to do with your life, which is a lot of pressure. You are required to make life-changing decisions, unsure of the consequences they will have.

At the time, I did not think that High School was a huge change. The main difference, in my opinion, was my campus size. My middle school had around 1,200 students, while my high school had almost 3,000! The campus was a lot bigger, around 106 acres, which is considered the size of a small college campus.

For some reason, I was not overwhelmed transitioning to High School. I think that it is because I went into it with the mindset that it was the same thing, school, just on a different campus. The hardest part was being the older sibling that had to face every obstacle first (it is not fun!). I did not know what to expect.

On my first day at campus, I had my preliminary schedule, that I had picked up weeks before school started. That morning, three teachers had already looked at it, but not one person said that I had the wrong schedule. Apparently, you were supposed to pick up a new copy in the morning. So, my gym teacher finally made me aware of this and I had to try and find the front office. It was very stressful, and this was the one time that I truly was scared during my freshman year. Everyone has their ups and downs during the first couple of weeks, trying to work out their new way of life. That is completely normal, and trust me, everything gets better with time.

Another strange thing about my high school is that many people come and go off of campus, in particular Juniors and Seniors. They take some classes online and others at the college (In my county, they offer Dual Enrollment).

What is your favorite subject in school? (Please comment down below) My favorite core class would have to be Math (Geometry, in particular). However, my favorite elective is Digital Multi-Media.

The class workload was worse, in high school, especially in Biology Honors. If there is one subject that I hate, it is science. I do not know why, but I have never been in love with science. I love English, Math, and even History, but science is the death of me. I do not care about prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. And I could care less about knowing the properties of water. Sorry in advance to people who enjoy science, but it is not for me. So, Biology and I were not friends. Towards the beginning of the year, I worked until around 8 at night, each and every night, in biology. My teacher was very difficult, to say the least, and it did not help that she taught the BioMed academy in some of her classes. I had absolutely no clue what I was doing. I was so overwhelmed and flooded with classwork. My parents saw that I was unhappy, so they allowed me to drop Biology Honors, and go into regular biology. That was one of the best decisions I ever made. My old teacher said that I would have done great in her class, but it was not worth the time and effort for me. You do not always have to take the hardest classes. Take what you love. Do not take an honors class for a subject that you do not excel in. It is not fair to yourself. Switching classes was one of the best decisions I made for my mental well-being, and I would make the same choice again and again.

In high school, it is important to know that you can switch your classes if you do not like them. It may be a process, but it is worth it. If you do not like the class that you are in, you are less likely to do good in it. I have experienced this first hand. The classes that I love I do so much better than the classes that I hate. I will even put work into the classes I love outside of school hours (when it is not necessary). Try to enjoy every class you do. Remember, that not all classes are a piece of cake, but you can get through them. You have the choice to drop if you need to. However, also push yourself to try a hard class if you enjoy the subject. In 10th grade, I took AP World History, and I was so nervous. It was my first AP class, but I did it (with all A's!). In 11th grade, I decided to not take an AP History, but to take an AP English, which turned out to be a good decision as well. It is okay to experiment with your classes.

One of the most annoying things in today's day and age is the fact that the education system has changed drastically, but not all parents acknowledge the changes. Classes today are a lot more rigorous and ask more of you than they did 20 or 30 years ago (although some parents may beg to differ). For example, teachers expect you to work more online, even if that is not the way you learn best. In my own time, my teacher wanted me to complete Learnsmarts. She claimed that they only took 30 minutes, but not for a slow reader, like myself. Teachers underestimate the time work will take and expect you to complete it in literally no time. Even if they give you a decent chunk of time, it can be annoying, because you do not always get to see what you get wrong. Every teacher is different, and this may not be your experience, but for me, I usually did not see what I got wrong, which was very disappointing for me. I like to learn from my mistakes. I feel like that is the only real way to learn.

The pressure in high school has also risen over the years. Now, you are expected to go to college in order to get any decent job (since most require a college degree). That means everyone is worried about qualifying and applying for scholarships. And in order to qualify for most scholarships, you need a good SAT/ACT score, GPA, and maybe even a few AP courses. Some schools might offer Dual Enrollment and encourage you to get your Associates Degree before you graduate high school. Now, this is a great opportunity for a lot of students, but I find it like the school system wants you to rush your life. That is very scary for almost everyone. Most of you probably do not know what your life holds, but here you are supposed to make life-altering decisions before you have even graduated.

I do not know what I want to do for the rest of my life, I have an idea, but it is crazy the pressure they put on you. Without my experiences in High School, I would have no clue. My school offered wonderful Career Technical Education (CTE) courses and academies, which have helped me get an idea. I am in the Finance Academy, which I loved, and Accounting was one of my favorite classes since I am great with numbers. I also love Digital Multi-Media, although I cannot see myself being able to make a substantial living off of it.

As I previously mentioned above, my high school campus lets you come and go. So, High School did have a lot more freedom than middle school in that aspect. I do not leave campus for lunch, so usually I eat outside (I used to eat inside, but I prefer getting a little fresh air). I have an hour to relax before class. Although, I sometimes go to office hours for the first half of lunch. Another benefit of the hour-long lunch is that some clubs meet during office hours. Including my club, which is the Key Club. I started Key Club my Freshmen year, and since then I have taken up two officer positions, Webmaster and Vice President. We used to meet after school, but meeting up at lunch was more convenient and attracted more new members, who did not have after school transportation.

Lastly, my favorite thing about High School is online courses! I took advantage of one online course, last year, and two this year (three for my Senior year!). If you tell your guidance counselor you want to take an online course, you have the option to go a class earlier or later (if your school offers it). And it is the best thing ever! My school started at 7:23, so I got up around 6:20, which was too early for me, so I took an online course last year, and I did not have to go to school until 8:17. This year, I left earlier and got out by 1:40 (3:30 is when most people got out). It is such a wonderful opportunity, and if your state/county has it, USE IT! I live in Florida, and I did FLVS, but your county might have one like my county also offers VVS (although, I prefer FLVS).

There is so much more that I could discuss about high school, and if there are any questions you have about my experiences, feel free to ask. I am an open book. I want you to feel confident about making the transition to high school.

With love and care,

Jacqulyn

P.S. Do not worry, you got this!