Dear Underclassmen,
As you begin your four years of high school or continue on your journey, I would like to share some of the things that I have learned throughout my four years at West Morris Central. As cliché as it is, the first bit of advice I have is to get involved in activities that interest you. Whether it be sports, clubs, theatre, or anything else, it will make a big impact on your four years, and the soon you do the better.
Although you might be thinking ahead to college applications, and how certain activities will look, take part in the activities that interest you. Don’t do anything just to do it. For me, I worked on the school newspaper, The Paw, and the yearbook junior year and got the opportunity to be an editor for the Paw senior year. I like things that require creativity so those activities fit me. It is also an amazing feeling to pick up your yearbook at the end of the year or a copy of the paper and know that you helped create it.
Starting with the freshman and sophomores, try to get your elective requirements out of the way in your first two years. Even though you technically have four years to complete the requirements, you don’t want to get to senior year and find out that you have to take an art class or you have to take a business class. If you don’t like a specific area, don’t put it off and be stuck with it later on. There are also electives that freshman cannot take or that have prerequisites so freshman year is the perfect time to tackle the required electives, and take the ones you like later on.
Sophomore, junior, and senior year all consist of the joy of standardized testing whether it be PSAT, SAT, ACT, or subject tests ( because who doesn’t want to wake up early on Saturday mornings to go to school and take a test?). Make sure you prepare for them because as much as colleges say they look at the “big picture” test scores are a large part of that picture, as is GPA, so keep your grades up. If you take an AP level class be sure to take the AP test because it can save you a lot of time and money in college.
To the future juniors, start your college process early. When you’re researching colleges only consider the ones that have your major. As much as you like a college, it will not be a good investment or use of your time if you cannot study what you plan to do after you graduate. If I could do the application process over there are definitely some colleges I would not apply to just because they didn’t have my major.
Also, get a head start working on your college essays. Aside from the daunting task of narrowing down colleges to apply to, the college essay is one of the most time consuming parts of the application process. Since many colleges use the common application, you really only need to write one essay, so make sure it is a great one. Try to get your applications done as early as possible. Even though many have January 1st deadlines, college applications are the last thing you want to be thinking about as you leave for winter break.
To future seniors, when you enter WMC in September it might seem like graduation is far away but it will be there before you know it. Be sure you make the most of your last year in high school. While you should certainly have fun during this time, make sure you keep your grades up so that in June you can exempt your finals. Save your absences for later in the year and you’ll be glad you did at Prom time and when spring break starts slowly disappearing due to snow days.
If there is one piece of advice I would give to students no matter what grade they are in, it would be to make your four years amazing in your own way. Don’t play two sports, participate in seven clubs, and take AP/IB classes that are way too hard, if that’s not you. Participate in what you like; what means a lot to you. As much as you may think “this” will look good on a college application or “that” would be great on a resume, it is a waste of your time if it is not what you truly want to do and will not lead you to pursuing what you want.