The school year is over, which means I’m not a freshman anymore. Although I didn’t experience lots of freshman “hazing,” this year was still pretty hard. Having to juggle all of my classes and extracurricular activities was a challenge and having piles of homework didn’t help either, but my freshman year taught me how to manage all of that and more. Here is the basics of what I’ve learned.

No. 1: Find your “family.” These are the people you will probably stick with for the rest of your high school life, so choose wisely. I found my family through cheerleading and I couldn’t be happier. With all of the stress high school puts on you it’s nice to have people who you can trust always there for you.

No. 2: Just do your homework. Yeah, I know, you have a lot going on and homework is stupid, but without it you would fail all your classes and that would stink. No one wants to be in high school longer than they need to be, so just do your work so you can finish school on time.

No.3: Relax more. Even with all your work and extra activities you can find some time to relax, even if that is just watching a whole season of a show on Netflix. If you think about it, if you are trying your best and getting your work done on time, you shouldn’t stress. Your grades will be fine, your life will go on, I promise.

So, my freshman year taught me that high school is crazy, but I can live through it. There is nothing to worry about if you just stay calm and do your work.