Dear past me,

Ok. So, over the past four years at GBS, you’ve picked up some stuff. Some of it (6%) good, most of it (94%) not good.  Here are some tips and tricks that hopefully would have balanced these statistics more. Good luck fam.

1. Learn to speak when you’ve got something to say, but don’t stress about the grade, it’ll only make you tired.

2. You should talk to teachers when you need help. Try and do this even if it requires overcoming literal tunnel vision, as it occasionally did for me. You should also find some teachers you can talk to when you just want to talk to an adult who isn’t your parents. Their honesty and openness may surprise you; you just gotta be willing to hear it.

3. Take the classes you want to take! Freshman year, you were weighed down by all honors classes you weren’t interested in, but as you begin to increasingly prioritize interest over level, your grades will go up anyway.

4. Step out of the box a little and take something you wouldn’t normally take. You’ll take journalistic writing as a freshman despite having occasional nightmares about the concept of conducting an interview, but Oracle has ended up being my primary activity at South.

5. It is ok to occasionally get called out of class to take a nap. You deserve it!

6. Learn how to publicly speak. I never got the hang of it (and I doubt I ever will), but it’s better than it was freshman year. So, get on it early to do what you can.

7. Not to sound like the grumpy old person who’s bitter about not understanding computers, but social media can be the worst. Facebook is always bad, no exceptions. Twitter and Tumblr are ok as long as you follow people you like & can improve from. Instagram and Snapchat, being unconducive to textual communication, are the only pure and righteous forms. Use them well.

8. The kiddos who vape in the parking lot are literally the Coolest People In The World and the rest of us must honor and respect them.

9. Read more books, especially but not exclusively fiction (theory alone will suck the creativity and hope out of you). Do this at the expense of small homework assignments if you have to. Prioritize big picture learning.

10. Speaking of homework, you probably should have done more of it. I know I just said to prioritize learning, but there’s a middle ground. Don’t let your grades slip because you don’t want to take 15 minutes to fill in some blanks.

11. Don’t check Powerschool. It is a terrible website that does not acknowledge extenuating circumstances and it will make you feel bad about yourself.

12. The atmosphere in this school will make you feel smothered by self-righteousness and it’ll make you tired for three years straight. This is inevitable. Address it when you feel you have to; otherwise, surround yourself with people who are the opposite.   

13. Gain what you can from your time here. Historically, the Oracle’s letters-to-self have been pretty positive and nostalgic, and that’ll definitely apply to a lot of your time here. But again, you’ll be here four years; find some value in it.