Watch the Footage

I should've made this thread earlier, but it didn't come to mind before. I'm starting middle school tomorrow (long story short, there was a strike last year, last year's classes ended in January and my vacation ends today. So, even though we are countries apart, any tips for a nervous Victin?

For a very long time, I thought of middle school as the best years of my life. Since then I've had a lot of lovely experiences elsewhere, and I'd hardly like to say I peaked in middle school, but even if I've had more fulfilling *experiences* in high school, university, etc., middle school was the school I loved, the school that I thought of as a second home (I use past tense because the administration's since changed and done evil things and made me sad, but with elephants). I mean, I would literally walk down the halls and exclaim "I love this school!" at random intervals.

tl;dr: Dude, middle school is amazing. As one nerd (who suddenly saw nerdiness become popular across the transition from primary to middle school) to another, I hope your middle school years are as awesome as mine were.

...oh, wait, you were asking for tips. Heh. All I can say is.. talk to people. Don't be afraid to be weird; the best friendships I made in middle school were ones where I and the other person basically just started talking as though we'd known each other all our lives. Take risks. Shout silly things across the hallway. Try to see if you can get everyone in the school to know your name.

Uh, I think you mean "High School", no Vic?
I'm assuming that you mean Ensino Médio, in which case the english equivalent would be High School, as in, the last block of school before you get into college.

But, yeah, go in and have a look. Not much we can really say about it. We could share our experiences with it but ultimately, you'll get through it just fine.

If there are crowds in the hallways between class bells, learn quickly how to dodge between people safely. Otherwise, you'll almost never have any hope of reaching your classes on time.

Also, if your school uses lockers, practice doing the combination as quickly as possible whenever you have time. My middle school didn't have 'em, but it was an invaluable skill in high school (not that you need to think that far ahead, but...)

IslaKariese wrote:If there are crowds in the hallways between class bells, learn quickly how to dodge between people safely. Otherwise, you'll almost never have any hope of reaching your classes on time.

Also, if your school uses lockers, practice doing the combination as quickly as possible whenever you have time. My middle school didn't have 'em, but it was an invaluable skill in high school (not that you need to think that far ahead, but...)

I'm already good at dodging people, except in the stairs as I don't have where to go. And no, no lockers.

Pixelmage wrote:Uh, I think you mean "High School", no Vic?
I'm assuming that you mean Ensino Médio, in which case the english equivalent would be High School, as in, the last block of school before you get into college.

But, yeah, go in and have a look. Not much we can really say about it. We could share our experiences with it but ultimately, you'll get through it just fine.

I did the research and it gave me middle school :S I'm 15 and one school year ahead (though I know some people ahead like me so it isn't that unusual) But you got what I'm referring to correctly, even though no one else (here or in TvTropes) said the same thing as you, even people my age, so I'm confused.


As for Qara (I'm in my cellphone, not quoting three things in the same post) I hope what you say is true to me, and I'll try to overcome my shyness and stuff, I hope.

I... don't know of any middle schools that have 15 yearolds. I dunno what country you hail from, I forget, but far as I know, 15 means high school freshman/sophomore.

you're definitely in the equivalent of highschool which technically is the 'middle' between grade school and college

14-15 sounds about the right age to start highschool, I think I was 14 when I went. ...oh god, that was almost 9 years ago O.O

Apparently the 15 yo girl in the Homestuck thread is going to middle school like me (she said we both aren't going to the 10th grade) and she's American as far as I know (from the Big Apple, even), so I'm confused.

Victin wrote:Apparently the 15 yo girl in the Homestuck thread is going to middle school like me (she said we both aren't going to the 10th grade) and she's American as far as I know (from the Big Apple, even), so I'm confused.

Don't take advice from a webcomic without properly checking it first.
Anyhow, it's Freshman in High School, in your case. See? Translations don't work. But we got that covered. Which is totaly the point of the topic. XD *comically missing the point?*

You aren't going to the 10th grade? The wording confuses me.

...Yeah, where I'm from, Middle school starts in grade 5, 6, or 7 and ends in grade 8 or 9, depending on the school. Though in some parts of Canada, there is no middle school, and high school just starts in grade 7.

You're probably in what most of us think of as high school, but since the delineations vary even within one country-- heck, sometimes even within one city-- we probably shouldn't get hung up on terminology. Instead just call it grade 10?

(of course, "grade 10" for me is, in various places, "10th grade", "sophomore", "year 11", sec... 1 I think?, etc. )

High school starts grade 9 anyway, So if he isn't in grade 10 he's still in the equivalent of high school (at least around here that's how it works)

And don't get me started on college. I had a little fun with the fact that I was a freshman all over again. They call us 'freshmeat.'

My experiences were either disheartening or not really applicable to situations other than my own.

The advice that I would give to myself at 15 would be DO YOUR FRIGGIN' HOMEWORK ALREADY, so, um, if you are anything like me, my advice is: Do your homework.

uhm... my high school years were... awkward and dissapointing...

You however, you should be fine. Just remember to do your homework on time, make a ton of friends, and do as much as you possibly can that's fun and extracurricular.

And if you're gonna chase after a bus, make sure you look fabulous and/or impressive doing it.

For me, for record, Elementary School was up through 6th grade (not that I wasn't homeschooled for most of it....), Middle was 7th and 8th, and High was 9th through 12th.

I.....don't really remember Middle School (which is besides the swiss cheese memory I sometimes have). See, my schooling went something like this: 5th-Homeschool (though I was on like 7th grade math, just because we didn't have breaks), 6th-Laurel Ridge, 7th-Lake Braddock, 8th-Robinson (which I attended through graduation). I almost went to another school starting in 9th grade, which would have been a nice record topping, but in hindsight it was better that I didn't. So, that whole period of my life consisted of constantly restarting schools, and having the "new kid" experience. Fun times, all round.

Let's see though, advice.....Do your homework? Nah, let's try for some non-generic advice! Let's see....there's going to be a ton of clubs that you're going to have access to. Try some out, you never know what you might find exciting! I kinda wish I'd gotten into Drama a year or two earlier than I did (Senior year). And then if you can find a bunch of like-minded people, you can probably make your own club if you want to, so even if you don't see something that catches your interest, you can still end up with one. Also, if your school is anything like mine, there's going to be a ton of events going on, beyond such mundane stuff as Drama productions (of which there probably are a lot more than you think there are) and Sports. You might find something you like going to, you never know!

Classes...but not what most people would say about them! Specifically, electives. Look at them, talk to older kids who've taken them. I'd have gladly gone back and done a 5th year of High School, simply because there were that many electives that I hadn't taken that I still wanted to take (Film Studies, Anthropology, stuff like them). Go out on a limb. Some classes might not seem that good, but you might find that you enjoy them (I ended up taking the full two years of Psychology, just because it was a really fun class!).

That's all I can think of off hand that I don't think is among the first things you will get told....Oh! If your grade has a secretary or somebody, make friends with them (if they follow your class as you get older, this gets even more important). They can help you with things, and in general being friendly with them is never a bad thing. (Especially when they live 3 houses down, and are family friends.... )

I would advise you to skip middle school entirely. It's not worth the trauma.

Hmmm I don't really have that much to say about high school, since I'm not sure how similar the education systems are... All I can say is: make friends, pay attention to class (but not that much ), if you can pick your classes, pick the ones with the cool teachers, and overall have fun I guess? Really, I didn't find high school to be that different from middle school... but then again, different countries and all that

Good luck, Vic; you'll be fine ^_^

Well, for high school... I'm kind of two minds.

One is that high school was probably the worst time of my life. Some of it were factors outside of my control, but high school in general sucked. It was unpleasant, dealt with more jerks than any other point, and the hormones going through me left me on an emotional rollercoaster.

That said, I met my wife when I was in high school, and we started dating about a month into my junior year of high school (so I guess the alternative way of looking at it is that I had a girlfriend for the entire second half). I learned a ton about storytelling then. I made quite a few friends that I still have to this day - in fact, with only one exception, the longest-term friendships I have in life stem from high school.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is, high school sucks, but there are some good points if you go out to find them.

Pixelmage wrote:

Victin wrote:Apparently the 15 yo girl in the Homestuck thread is going to middle school like me (she said we both aren't going to the 10th grade) and she's American as far as I know (from the Big Apple, even), so I'm confused.

Don't take advice from a webcomic without properly checking it first.
Anyhow, it's Freshman in High School, in your case. See? Translations don't work. But we got that covered. Which is totaly the point of the topic. XD *comically missing the point?*

It wasn't from the webcomic, it was from a girl in a thread in which we discuss the webcomic, which is mostly full of older people (17, 18, 21, 27, etc. years old)

narrativedilettante wrote:My experiences were either disheartening or not really applicable to situations other than my own.

The advice that I would give to myself at 15 would be DO YOUR FRIGGIN' HOMEWORK ALREADY, so, um, if you are anything like me, my advice is: Do your homework.

eli_gone_crazy wrote:uhm... my high school years were... awkward and dissapointing...

You however, you should be fine. Just remember to do your homework on time, make a ton of friends, and do as much as you possibly can that's fun and extracurricular.

I already did my homework, though the fact my teachers won't correct it in class is tempting... Also, my time is getting tighter, so that's "tempting" to. But I will try to do it as much as I can. (also, the ones I usually left for later were the ones which really mattered for my grade, and I always had at least three of them to do at the same time, so I had a schedule, but I'm bad with those so... Though I always managed to get them done).

Again, I'm shy and ankward, so making friends is hard to me. But I'm trying! And extracurricular... Well, I'm lazy and my schedule is already tight, but if I end up finding anything interesting...

Krika wrote:Let's see though, advice.....Do your homework? Nah, let's try for some non-generic advice! Let's see....there's going to be a ton of clubs that you're going to have access to. Try some out, you never know what you might find exciting! I kinda wish I'd gotten into Drama a year or two earlier than I did (Senior year). And then if you can find a bunch of like-minded people, you can probably make your own club if you want to, so even if you don't see something that catches your interest, you can still end up with one. Also, if your school is anything like mine, there's going to be a ton of events going on, beyond such mundane stuff as Drama productions (of which there probably are a lot more than you think there are) and Sports. You might find something you like going to, you never know!

Classes...but not what most people would say about them! Specifically, electives. Look at them, talk to older kids who've taken them. I'd have gladly gone back and done a 5th year of High School, simply because there were that many electives that I hadn't taken that I still wanted to take (Film Studies, Anthropology, stuff like them). Go out on a limb. Some classes might not seem that good, but you might find that you enjoy them (I ended up taking the full two years of Psychology, just because it was a really fun class!).

That's all I can think of off hand that I don't think is among the first things you will get told....Oh! If your grade has a secretary or somebody, make friends with them (if they follow your class as you get older, this gets even more important). They can help you with things, and in general being friendly with them is never a bad thing. (Especially when they live 3 houses down, and are family friends.... )

I don't think my school has clubs... =/ And events at my school are kind of a not, because its schedule is a mess (it usually plans stuff to the middle/end of the year... But it never really happens). As far as I know all my class are obligatory (except languages apart from Portuguese, you pick one of them; And in PE you would pick one sport too, but this year changed), so...

Though I think my grade has a secretary, but she said she will go away by the middle of the next year But I think I'll try to go there and befriend the people in the administration.

... Actually my friend's mother is now the third person in charge, so... Well, we think it's funny.

Blurred_9L wrote:Hmmm I don't really have that much to say about high school, since I'm not sure how similar the education systems are... All I can say is: make friends, pay attention to class (but not that much ), if you can pick your classes, pick the ones with the cool teachers, and overall have fun I guess? Really, I didn't find high school to be that different from middle school... but then again, different countries and all that

Good luck, Vic; you'll be fine ^_^

Thanks Well, I've answered to most of your advices, so the reply is the same to you Well, if I could pick my teachers... Well, I remember a science teacher I had for half a period once, and while he was very strict he was very fun, also because he could control my class (I have the bad luck of always falling in the "worst" classes of any school, though many times it's only the teacher's personal opinion, but my classmates are usually quite misbehav-... misbihaved? Though it sounds biased of me to say that, and me putting like that sounds way, way worse than it is, so don't pay attention to what I just said )

There's also a science teacher who, from what I hear, seems the best teacher in the whole school But I never had any classes with him Seriously, a girl in my van told me the story of how she once made an interview with him for a school work, and he took them to one of the rooms in the administration, only so he could sit in a fancy armchair. Then they went to her room and he made everyone play videogames, while he should be in a reunion and some inspectors came to ask why there were students in class at that time, and he told them he was giving a "class" to them which was already scheduled. Also he usually spends his time arguing with a geography teacher, though they don't do it seriously, but it really seems they are going to fight, but then are laughing together. And the way they talk about each other...

But I haven't had any classes with him. Maybe with said Geography teacher, but I'm not sure.

Rick Healey wrote:Well, for high school... I'm kind of two minds.

One is that high school was probably the worst time of my life. Some of it were factors outside of my control, but high school in general sucked. It was unpleasant, dealt with more jerks than any other point, and the hormones going through me left me on an emotional rollercoaster.

That said, I met my wife when I was in high school, and we started dating about a month into my junior year of high school (so I guess the alternative way of looking at it is that I had a girlfriend for the entire second half). I learned a ton about storytelling then. I made quite a few friends that I still have to this day - in fact, with only one exception, the longest-term friendships I have in life stem from high school.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is, high school sucks, but there are some good points if you go out to find them.

For the first part, all I can say is that I think everyone can relate to that. For the second, the same thing. I suppose both of them happens at high school a lot. I hope I can have the same good experiences as you



I'm still confused in the Middle/High School thing, so I'll try to check with more teenagers my age :S BTW, thanks everyone You are so great! *group hugs*