The difference between middle school and high school varies for different types of people. Some think of it as a new adventure, while others dread every second. There are so many new opportunities it could be considered life changing and inspiring. One thing you want to keep in mind though, is procrastination. This is exactly what I went through, actually. If you look at my grades in the first semester they were very low. I didn’t exactly realize how important your grades were in high school, because they can drastically affect your future plans like college.  It can get out of hand very quickly as well as time management. Middle school and high school feel the same at first, but once you get behind in one assignment they add up very quickly and before you know it you’re very behind in all of your work.

It all began with my first month in high school; I remember being very ambitious and overwhelmed. Let me tell you, it was all fun and games this first month but pretty soon it felt like prison. You didn’t go outside whatsoever, you were on that campus for six and a half hours. The hallways were wide yeah, but you wished they were wider when packed with people that were so urgent to get to class they knocked you over constantly.They didn’t apologize, either. If they rammed you into a wall they could really care less. Maybe that was just a freshman thing. Natural selection was coming for you; you fall in that hallway it’s all over.

The school colors were sickening as well, all the hallways and carpets were this dark shade of navy blue and grey. Not that pretty light shade of blue everyone admires, that dark shade that’s often mistaken for black. It’s like they were trying to make it depressing for their own enjoyment.

     I had your basic classes, and also electives. I wasn’t used to having seven periods in one single day, with all of these older students around me. It made me quite anxious.

     For example, taking freshmen English was not too fun for me. My English teacher’s hair was always neat with never a single hair out of place; she couldn’t be any taller than 5 foot 3 and her outfits were always unusual; she had to match her shoes to her blouse always and wore this perfume that smelled similar to vanilla. She was an unordinary but very outgoing person.

     We had multiple projects a week and to say the least, I didn’t take anything seriously. I would slack off, maybe complete half the assignment and turn it in three or four days late. That’s the one thing my English teacher couldn’t stand: late work and missing assignments. Or every teacher I’ve ever had, actually.

Haha, let’s not forget math class. Algebra one, that made English look rather easy. I got behind in my math work faster than any other subject. Well, its not that I wouldn’t do the work-- it was more that I didn’t understand it at all, and wouldn’t take the time to.

     It was basically like this all semester for me; missing assignments, late work, not understanding anything at all. My parents were more upset than anyone, and pretty soon they got a tutor for me. Now, you know the first thing I was thinking was dang, tutors are for lame stupid kids. I wasn’t a very positive, motivated, energetic person. Lacking the zest, you feel?

     I remember my first session with the tutor I found really awkward and I didn’t like it at all: Her name was Cathy, she had very short curls in her hair with a light tint of blonde that somewhat reminded me of spaghetti; and she wasn’t outspoken whatsoever. Occasionally I’d have to say what? What did you just say. and repeat myself many times over. She only wanted the best for me though, she genuinely wanted me to excel in Algebra and improve my grades in all of my other classes. I appreciated that.

     I’ve never been the type of person that enjoys working one on one with someone else. However, I began to notice my grades improving. This took effort on my part though, don’t think that just because you get a tutor all of your problems will magically go away. They don’t. It’s like having an extra study period to help you with all of your other classes, it won’t help with anything if you don’t pay attention. It mostly helped me with math more than anything else, they also got me a planner to write down all of my assignments for each day so I knew what I was supposed to accomplish.

     I slowly began to realize how important grades are and that they were only trying to help me, so it was best if I persevered and put forth all of my energy into making up my missing assignments before the semester was over. That’s exactly what I did, my teachers were overjoyed at how hard I worked to make everything up and were very gracious about how late a few of the assignments I turned in were. Everyone was very pleased at the progress I was making.

So, let me tell you the next semester was a completely different story for me. I kept my grades up, and made my best effort to turn in everything on time. Somedays I would slack off, but not nearly as bad as I did a few months previous.

The most important thing is to take school seriously and believe that you can accomplish your goals you set for yourself in the meantime. Once you get in bad habits they are hard to break, and make up for. Everything becomes extremely overwhelming but its all temporary, so make the best of it.