St. Louis U. High is a whole new ball game. For most of you, coming to St. Louis U. High will be the biggest transition you’ve experienced in your life. In grade school you did not have to be very organized or disciplined. Most of you did not have to study much. You did little homework and did not need to study to do well academically.
It’ll be very different here. You will have to be organized and disciplined. You’ll have to learn to study. You’ll not be the brightest in the whole class anymore but will be among an entire class of “brightest” students.
All the freshmen before you have had to meet this same challenge. It takes time. Most begin to feel comfortable about the second or third quarter. You have many people here who want to help you: senior advisors, your teachers, your counselors, your family. Don’t hesitate to come to us for help.
This is the first time you’ve experienced freshman year in high school. We do this every year. We can help you if you’ll let us!
How to Get Off to a Good Start
- Be open to change. See these as new opportunities.
- Work at being organized: in your classes, your locker, at home. Let your teachers guide you.
- Use your planner.
Write down what you need to do. Take the planner home each night and check off what you have done. The next morning use your planner to make sure you have all you need for the day.
- Study a 20-30 minutes a night for each subject.
This is a big aspect of the transition from grade school to high school. For many incoming freshmen "homework" means written work. In grade school you probably did not need to "study" very much. I f you think you do not have much homework, you probably mean the written part. You need to realize that the reading and studying assigned is important homework, often the most important homework you can do. Understanding that study and review is a necessary part of homework is one of the key transitions coming into SLUH.
- Say something in class. Answer a question or ask one. Let your teachers, and your classmates, hear your voice. Let your classmates get to know you.
- Listen. Take in all you can. As one freshman recently wrote,
Listen. You’ll hear a lot of great stuff. Important information. Funny jokes. Useless trivia. Something that will make you think. Something that you don’t agree with. Then speak. Your view of a subject is just as important as anyone else’s, then they can have a chance to listen. Don’t be afraid to talk or to listen. Fear is useless. It doesn’t make you feel any better. Trust me, I know.
- Meet your classmates.
Introduce yourself. Just begin where you interact naturally: in your locker area, in homeroom, in your classes. Pay attention to names and use them. Write them down if that helps.
- Talk to your teachers and your senior advisors, especially of there’s something bothering you.
Mr. Nicollerat’s “How to Get the Most Out of Freshman Year”
1. Get involved, but find something you really like.
2. “Work harder” in preparation.
3. Do something for somebody else.
4. See the best in people, even (especially?) in people and experiences you do not like.
5. Put God into your choices. You, and I, tend to do whatever we want to do, what is comfortable
or benefits us personally. Try putting God in whatever you do. See what happens.