Don't Mess Up Your First Year by Daniel Garcia

Freshmen, don’t mess up your first year because it can lead to a real bad start in your high school experience. I know because I had to catch up on all the classes I failed. I used be tardy and not do the work. I would just fall asleep during class. The teachers would give out a lot of work, and I would just talk rather than do the work. In my first semester I only passed two classes. I thought that was good enough but it wasn’t.

The second semester I started to do better because during second period, which was my visual arts class, I was called up to the counselor’s office. It was a small group that met every Friday. The main purpose of the group was to talk to students about how they could improve in their classes and keep up with work, assignments, projects, and homework. We had a choice if we wanted to go. There were five other students there but one of my friends and I decided to stay because I was bored in visual arts.

Ms. Johnson, one of the counselors, and this other teacher would show us posters and give us small assignments to keep us motivated in school work. After realizing that school is not a chill spot and that I should be focusing on my work, I started to do well. I did not pass my freshman year because of one credit but after that I skipped the 10th grade and I was back on track. I had caught up with all my classes my junior year.

So what I’ve learned from this experience is that I should have focused more my first year, because in the first year, you build a foundation for your school work. After your freshman year, everything will be easy. My advice to freshman is to do your work and homework. Don’t mess up your first year.