High School
Get ready for the secondary school experience
High school includes the ninth through the twelfth grades. Successively, students in each year of high school are referred to as freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors. It is the highest level of compulsory education in North America, and it serves as a preparatory school for students who plan to go on to higher education.
The Structure of a North American High School
In most high schools, the school year is divided into quarters or semesters. For each portion of the year, you take a set number of courses before switching to a new schedule for the next segment of the academic year. High school sports seasons run throughout the year, to ensure students with varied interests in athletics have an opportunity to participate in multiple activities.
In your later years, you'll write standardized tests such as the PSAT and the SAT, which are intended to test your preparedness for college. If for some reason you don't complete your high school studies, you can get online high school diplomas by completing your coursework or write an exam to get your GED – it's definitely not the end of the world.
Social Aspects of High School
En route to your high school diploma, you'll encounter a wide range of challenging, exciting and fun activities and ideas. Getting ready for high school is a matter of much more than just completing eighth grade – most students find high school an entirely different place than middle school. Some students struggle with the transition, while others thrive right away.
Among your high school classmates, you'll find kindred spirits no matter how you feel about your new environment. The most important thing is to be yourself and not to worry too much about what the other students are doing. Do what feels comfortable and right for you. By the time you collect autographs in your high school yearbooks, you'll have made all kinds of new friends, some of whom will last a lifetime.
Take your studies seriously and your social life not so seriously, and you'll have a very positive and productive high school experience. By the time your high school reunion rolls around, you may well look back on it as the best time of your life.
Comments (3)