Louisville, KY 40208
May, 8th 2013
Dear Freshman,
You are in for a treat. I am about to give you a backstage pass to everything you need to know about surviving DuPont Manual High School. In the beginning things will be pretty crazy and yes you will probably be scared. Do not worry, by the end of the year you will not remember what stupid thing you did on the first day of school or how bad your hair looked. Just remember that High school is going to both the best times and the worst times of your life.
Now, first things first, sleep. Sleep is both your greatest friend and your worst enemy. If you don’t get enough it can really hurt you academically but if you sleep too much there is a possibility your homework won’t get finished in time for your classes. Learning how to juggle sleep, academics, and anything social or extracurricular is a very important skill. Everyone at Manual has their own way of keeping up with things freshman year but sleep is always a struggle for many.
The second most important thing is starting the year off right. If you mess around the first semester of the school year, it will be really hard to try and make up for it later. Start off strong and try to stay positive throughout the year. Keeping up with your classes will be a life saver when it comes to getting sick and trying to finish all of your make up work. Staying attentive at the beginning of the year will help you keep motivated for the rest of the year and help you follow through with your goals you set for yourself.
The last thing that you should keep in mind is that having a “study buddy” isn’t just for little kids. Make sure that you have at least two-three people in each of your classes that you can ask for the homework you missed that day or just ask for some help understanding the material. Your “study buddy” should be someone who is considerably attentive and around your learning pace. It will be better for you to both work out problems together than try to finish them alone by yourself.
Remembering all of these things may be hard at first but do not worry by the end of the year you will be. Also a word to the wise, if a teacher says “this may be on a test in the future”, it is guaranteed that it will be on the next test. Study hard learn a lot. Make sure you remember no one uses their lockers, they are a waste of time, the swimming team meets on the fourth floor for practice, do not be a slow person in the hallways and that senior flirting with you is only flirting because they can’t get anyone their own age.
Yours truly,
Soon to be freshman
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