How To Survive High School

Perhaps the title of this post sounds overdramatic and childish, but it's not supposed to be like that. When people hear the words "How to Survive High School" it often sounds like a chapter book that you'd see in a middle school library – one with pathetic advice and explanations for your first crush.

The thing is, there are people who actually don't survive high school.

I'm only a freshman and I already understand this. I'm in all honors/AP classes this year, and it gets extremely overwhelming sometimes. I will write/have written countless posts about the reasons the education system should change, but for now:

I'm making this list. And throughout the year, in developing blogposts, I might add to it. Here are some things you should do to help you survive high school:

1. Befriend your teachers. Though this seems pointless at first, it can come in handy. Maybe it seems cool to be the offhand rebel student that talks back and makes jokes, but this is such a bad idea. I've gotten A's on projects that others in my group have failed simply because the teacher likes me.

2. Make a list of your homework and add to it throughout the day. It's SO EASY to forget about things you have to do, and then you're failing a class because you've neglected a few assignments.

3. Keep a single homework folder. I used to have multiple binders to lug home every day, which is a very terrible thing. Hold on to one folder. That way you can flip through pages and everything is right there and it's all handy and neat.

4. Have a pair of headphones with you at all times. For those of you that take extra curricular classes like art or CTE, music is a lifesaver. Along with tuning out teachers that talk for too long, it's also a very non-controversial way to tell someone you don't want to engage in conversation.

5. Pretend to pay attention. This is helpful for accomplishing #1. If you want to actually pay attention, that would be a better option, but if you hate a teacher too much or can't handle listening anymore, play games in your head. Count the amount of times they say "uh" or "um" or "mkay?" (I've done this so many times. It looks like you're taking notes or deep in thought.)

6. Schedule time for your homework. When you're on the bus or in a nonproductive environment, take 10 seconds to consider when you're going to do your homework.

7. Eat breakfast. This sounds so stupid, I know, but I have so many friends that don't eat breakfast and it really confuses me how they manage to function. Force feed yourself some Cheerios. You need food to churn your brain gears.

A portrait of me at school
Photo courtesy here

I normally hate blogposts like this. I don't blame you if you scoffed the entire time while reading this, because what would I know? A fifteen year old freshman telling you how to get through high school seems a bit inapposite. It's not like I know how anything works in high school – hell, I'm still in a building with a bunch of 8th graders.

Also, I've always thought advice blogs/columns were disturbingly stupid. Receiving guidance from a person who doesn't know who you are is and doesn't know what you need to hear…it seems unnecessary.

Still, I feel like everyone can agree that high school is not easy. Everything is sometimes hard to manage, and often it feels stressful and tiring and useless. It's not, though; education is actually a really great thing to have. You just have to learn how to survive it.

Settle For Less

A student comes home with their final report card, disappointed in some aspects but somewhat proud. They've received mostly A's and B's, along with a single D but that doesn't really bother them. They worked hard this semester and are fairly pleased with their good grades.

The second they enter the kitchen their mom/dad asks to see their report card. As a parent, their eyes go directly to the D. Their first response is immediately "You got a D in History?" because that's what they see. That's what doesn't fulfill their expectations.

As a student, their parent's retaliation seems heart crushing. The student didn't think it was that bad. One D, they thought. My other grades were all good, they thought.

It's disturbing that most adults focus on kids' failures as opposed to their successes.

This is true in all situations. This is the reason that adults constantly ridicule the younger generation for everything; technology, for example, is not appreciated for being impressive and revitalizing – it's scoffed upon for being distracting. This is the reason that kids don't feel appreciated for their hard work.

This comes up on Google Images if you search "parents clipart"
Photo Courtesy

It's not just parents, either. Everyone does this. All people subconsciously focus in on the substandard things rather than admiring what they have achieved. All people work a harder to become something more; all people strive to be good enough.

So, is it ever going to be good enough? Or does everyone keep reaching for a report card…an approving smile…a lifestyle…that's unachievable? If the student works hard enough, will their parents ever look at them and say they're perfect? And if they say it, are they lying? Of course it could be better; it could always be better. No matter what it is, you could achieve more.

For some people this is inspirational. If you can always improve, then there's always something to reach for. This is a form of motivation.

For others, however, this reality is immensely defeating. No matter how hard you work, how fast you climb, or how hard you try, you'll never reach the absolute maximum of human accomplishment.

So settle for less. Do everything to your best ability, and be proud of yourself for it. Look at your report card and think, hey, I worked really hard on this. Don't ever deride yourself for not being good enough, and don't let anyone degrade you for your pride.

Flaws In The Education System #2

You Aren't Learning Anything Beneficial

Around 55 million kids in America are enrolled in elementary or secondary schools. Every day, approximately 55 MILLION American students sit in classrooms. Yet, according to Ecudemic, the United States isn't even one of the world's top 10 education systems. So what is everyone in our country doing? To sit in classrooms (1,680 hours each year, by the way)…does that even benefit us at all? Are we learning the wrong things?

Half the things you're taught in school don't help you succeed.

Everyone has wondered this. Everyone has sat in a classroom and groaned internally, knowing that this curriculum would never be used outside of the school walls. This is a question commonly asked by a confused math student: "When are we ever going to use any of this?"

Upon being asked this, I've found that most teachers respond with one of two things:

1. They'll list a specific job category that uses this curriculum (sometimes minimally), and often it's something that no one wants to grow up and pursue. For example, "Construction workers use this all the time!" or "My husband's sister's daughter majored in ophthalmology, and she uses this every day!"

2. Either that, or the teacher will sigh and make the student feel guilty for asking the question. I have a theory that this is just a ploy to get out of the situation without answering the question at all. They'll say something like, "This is the worst question. I hate this question, I absolutely hate it. I'm just…I'm going to pretend that you didn't just ask that. Wow…" Then they'll pause, let everyone wade in the uncomfortable silence, and say, "Alright then, let's get on with the lesson."

Teacher being a teacher
Photo Courtesy

But the thing is, school doesn't really teach you anything worth knowing.

We're not taught how to get to know people or how to make someone laugh. We're not taught how raise a dog or how much to tip the waiter at a restaurant. We're not taught how to manage 4 hours of homework after 5 hours of schoolwork, and we're not taught how to cope with the stress or the anxiety or the pressure. We're not even taught how to pay taxes. I have no idea what a mortgage is. Instead, we're taught the plot of Greek literature and the history of Israel's wars. We're taught how to formulate arithmetic sequences and how to label the protons and electrons of a Phosphate. We're taught such unnecessary things. And what do we learn? I don't know about everyone else, but so far I've mastered how to befriend teachers and how to bullshit three-page essays in under an hour.

School is supposed to be a privilege. Kids are supposed to wake up and want to learn things. Our education is being sucked out from under us, and now we are confused high schoolers with monotone answers to questions we don't care about.

Look at us. We're learning nothing useful. 

How Long Have You Actually Been Alive?

Please Note: Whether or not you believe in God, I'm going to pretend that there is a figure in charge of us up there (I'm not sure where "up there" is, but just go with it). In this post I will be referring to this figure as "The Person In Charge."

Technically, I am fifteen years old. Technically, I have been on Earth since August of 2000 and technically, my existence has gone on for a long while. I've experienced many things in my years and I remember a fair portion of those objectives. But the things I remember…what if they're just memories?

There's a theory that you've only existed for a few seconds. Possibly less.

Assume that The Person In Charge just put you here three minutes ago. You've been on the planet for precisely three minutes and haven't existed any longer than that. When The Person In Charge brought you here, you were given memories. 

You were given vague commemorations of your childhood, the years you spent growing up, and that one time you tripped walking up the stairs at school. Some things are emphasized more than others. There are parts of your life that you don't recall at all. The Person In Charge made it this way.

You were given memories of a life you actually haven't lived. You were given memories so explicit and beautiful that they feel real. Everything feels practical enough that you begin to live your life as if it started a long time ago; you begin to live your life as if you weren't just created.

This would mean that you haven't actually experienced anything before this moment. All the things you think you've done are simply memories you were given. Congratulations, you just took your first breath.

The View From Our Hotel In Seattle

My dad told me about this theory in Seattle, Washington. We were visiting colleges for my brother and staying at some random hotel near the University of WA. My dad wanted to see the movie The Martian (which was a really good movie, by the way) and the only showtimes were later at night. My family and I were sitting down in the restaurant aspect of our hotel, sipping ice water from those black straws that hotels have, while we waited.

I don't exactly remember how, but we started talking about all these crazy theories. This was one of them. After my dad explained it, I felt extremely uncomfortable throughout the remainder of the night.

We discussed other possibilities about the existence of humanity, which I will be posting about later during the evolution of my blog. If you're looking to read about any more of my theories, click here.

This is one that made my head spin. Sure, you may think you've been reading this blogpost for a few minutes, but maybe you haven't. It's possible that you were put on Earth a millisecond ago. So, that being said, welcome to the planet.

Aliens Exist

The universe is infinite. I'm not entirely sure how, but the science nerds over at NASA have proved this. When you look up into the sky, you're gazing into everlasting space. There is no "end" that has been discovered. The universe is infinite.

What most people envision
when they hear the word "alien"
Photo Courtesy

Knowing this, I don't understand how people don't believe in aliens.

For some reason, when the word "alien" is mentioned, people immediately think of little green guys with heads that are too big and two fingers. Often they look something like the image to the right.

When you think of it like this, it seems fairly improbable. I don't know where this idea came from but it's strange. Most people take aliens as a joke.

The reality is this: aliens exist.

Maybe you think I'm insane – a fifteen year old girl trying to tell you that there is life outside of Earth doesn't seem very convincing. But, as I said before, the universe is infinite. And if there are thousands of life-forms on Earth (our tiny planet within a solar system within a galaxy), there must be more out there.

Our solar system lives on the edge of the Milky Way, a long disk-shaped collection of millions of stars, planets, and other space things. Everything that you learn about in elementary school – from Mercury to Pluto – exists within our solar system.

This is an image of our sun in relativity to the Milky Way
Picture Courtesy

I've already posted about how huge the universe is (click here if you want to read it), so I'm not going to talk about that. Still, keeping in mind how massive everything is, do you seriously believe that our pathetic little planet is the only thing to contain life?

No, there has to be something more. The universe is too vast for us to be alone.

This proposes other questions: What kind of life is there? Why don't we know about them? Will we ever be able to contact other living things? Is there another Earth?

Maybe there's another planet identical to ours. Maybe it's just located on the complete opposite side of the galaxy. Maybe the galaxy is just a reflection of it's self; maybe the galaxy is symmetrical. Maybe there's another planet like ours, but backwards, called Htrae (that's "Earth" backwards). Maybe there's another version of you, but backwards. Maybe there's an abundance of other life in places that we didn't know about.

When you think about it this way, it feels pretty obvious. There is life somewhere that's not here.

Aliens exist.

Everyone Is You

My dad majored in rocket science.

He studied hard on a full scholarship and ended up quitting half way through because he "didn't want to be an astronaut anymore." Despite the fact that he now works for a power-line company, he still graduated with such a degree, so I have the privilege of telling people my dad is a rocket scientist.

He tells my brother and I about a lot of these…theories. I'm not sure where he gets them, but they always make my head hurt. Most of them involve the universe, or time, or paradoxes. I'm going to write about one.

Everyone around you is also you.

Imagine this: every time you die, you're reincarnated. I'm sure you've heard this theory before ("you die and then you're reborn again!") but this is somewhat different. Assume that you're born in the year 2001. You live a long, happy life and then you die in the year 2080.

You're reincarnated. You're born again, as someone else, in the year 2000 (yeah, you went "back in time"). You live a long, happy life – through the year 2001 – up until the year 2080.

Wait! That would mean that there are two versions of "you" on the planet AT THE SAME TIME! What if they meet each other? What if they see each other? Would they know?

Pretend you live out this life (the one from 2000) and then you die again. You're reborn in 2002 and live until 2080.

Maybe you see where I'm going with this. If this cycle has repeated over and over and over…there could be a lot of versions of you on one planet. Maybe 12% of the world is made up of reincarnated you's.

Maybe you've walked down the sidewalk and made eye contact with someone you "didn't know," maybe you thought: cool, hey. Kept walking. But maybe that person used to be you. Maybe that person is who you'll become after you die.

Think about this: If it happened millions and millions of times…wouldn't that mean that everyone around you could be another version of yourself? Think about it. Perhaps you are everyone. Perhaps every time you die, you go back in time and start over as a new person. Perhaps you've lived millions of lives as other people that you don't remember. Maybe you are Albert Einstein and Beyoncé and Donald Trump. Maybe you are everybody.

It's sort of a difficult concept to think about, but try it. Then look around you and study someone else's face. Think: have I been here before?

The idea makes you feel peculiarly lonely. Technically, by these standards, you're alone. You are the single being that exists on Earth, and all people are made up of your being.

Everyone is you.

Emma told me to add this picture.
Courtesy of High School Musical

Flaws In The Education System #1

I plan on writing multiple posts about things that are wrong with our education system. Welcome to the first of (hopefully) many.

Education or Grade?

Photo courtesy

A student walks into math class feeling entirely normal. She/he has just finished conversing with a friend about the geography test next period, something that everyone seems to be stressed about today. He/she takes a seat where he/she is assigned and glances forward. On the white board is written, "TEST TODAY. NO CALCULATORS!"

She/he mentally panics, immediately filling with terror. With the biology test last class and the geography test next class…he/she completely forgot about this one. Math.

The student's eyes scan over the bold words again. No calculators. She/he hadn't practiced multiplying matrices at all. He/she was relying on the use of a calculator in order to pass this exam. So he/she snatches one from the basket and holds it in between their thighs, smiling warily as the rest of the students enter the classroom.

No one seems to notice him/her cheating, but they're very cautious. Sure, he/she feels awful about it, but they have good reason. The teacher doesn't let them retake tests! And the student knows their grade will not be an A after this.

At some point he/she realizes that they have absolutely no clue how to perform this equation. The person sighs, glances up, and glimpses at another students' work (Not even to cheat! They just want to see how far behind they are) only to realize they're on the exact same problem. And his/her neighbor, unlike his/herself, actually has an answer written down.

You may be thinking: How is this a flaw in the education system? It seems like a flaw in the teacher's awareness. However, this is the issue:

The reason students cheat on tests is because their grade matters more than their education.

Why is this, exactly? I think the answer is sort of obvious. From the moment students start receiving grades, the entire idea of them is exaggerated. Once you reach high school especially, everything revolves around your GPA. It's not about being knowledgable. College applications don't look at your brain activity, they look at your transcript.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that the original point of school was to educate kids. The emphasis on learning feels like it's been decreased. To me, it's as if the entire point of high school is to get good grades, get into a good college, and get a high-paying job. I don't just want to succeed in school; I want to be intelligent. The idea of learning and knowledge is really awesome, and school takes that away from us.

So screw the grades – aim for intellect. Set fires with brilliance, break hearts with capability, and learn.

The Large Gap Between Where You Are And Where You Should Be

The thing is, you may feel sort of unaccomplished. Maybe you're like me and you spend your minimal free time looking at pictures of dogs dressed as bees. Maybe you're life is a repetitive cycle. Maybe you're slower than everyone else, and maybe you feel a bit behind.

That's sort of okay, though.

There are people in the world who move really fast – the type of people who are ahead of all their responsibilities, homework, and chores. These are the type of people that have everything planned to the minute; the type of people that text you "hey" and say "sorry I have to go" two minutes later. Treadmill people. They take advice from time and never stop going places. These are the type of people who are rooted into their beliefs. Always on the ground, never distracted. Stable, conscious, fast.

Then, there's everyone else. Possibly you. The people that feel like everything is moving too quickly for them to keep up – like they're constantly running to catch the bus but it pulls away as soon as they arrive. They sometimes feel like they're moving too slow, but that's fine. They take their time on their homework, chores, and responsibilities. They're the type of people that will sit down at the bus stop and accomplish something else as they wait for the next vehicle. They'll text you and ask you how your day went, and (even if they have something else to do) they'll maintain a conversation. These are the type of people who are suspended in the sky. Gentle, free-falling, slow.

There's nothing wrong with moving "too slowly" or being "behind everyone else." Take your time. Breathe through everything.

There's also nothing wrong with moving quickly. Write a final essay in 27 minutes. Check something off on your to-do list and sprint to the next objective.

But:

If you look at other people and wish you were there, stop doing that. I'm serious. Stop. Maybe it doesn't seem that easy ("I can't just stop being envious of people") but you actually can.

Try to compliment someone else without comparing them to yourself. Try to look at people and flood them with admiration. Everything is beautiful and everyone is beautiful. At some point you'll realize that you're a part of everyone, too.

Actually, the title of this post is a complete lie. There is no "large gap between where you are and where you should be." You are THERE. You've accomplished everything you're supposed to have accomplished. This is for you:

Do you think they actually posed for this, just suspending their hands in the air like that, or were they actually mid high five? Anyways, photo courtesy here

A/N: This is actually a fairly inspirational post, which is really unlike me. I mostly wrote this because I was feeling overwhelmed and very behind with schoolwork/responsibility. It sort of made me feel better. I hope it does the same for you. 
Also please excuse the high-five picture. I'm required to add an image to every one of my posts and for some reason I thought it was funny.

The Universe is Too Big

Did you know that we don't matter?

Maybe you're the kind of optimist that thinks everyone is significant to the world's cycle of events. Maybe I've offended you deeply by telling you that you're unimportant. And I don't mean to make your existence feel pointless, but it kind of is.

Here's the thing: the universe is too big. We all live in a city that lives in a state that lives in a country that lives in a continent that lives on a planet. We live on a singular planet among a collection of other planets. This collection of planets live in a galaxy, a galaxy that lives with an abundance of other galaxies. These galaxies form a universe, a universe that is much, much too big.

This is either a good thing or a bad thing. It goes one of two ways:

1. The massiveness of everything inspires you. You look into the night sky and want to become the stars. You learn about the universe and want to discover it; you want to explore it. You want to be the kind of person who makes an impact on everything else. You want to matter.

2. The vast, immense pile of giant stars is terrifying. You glance upward toward the clouds and feel really really small. All you see is a huge, empty space between where you are and where you wish you could be. You want to float into the sky and touch the galaxies, but you're accompanied with the heavy reality that you can't.

There's this picture taken by the Voyager 1 in 1990. It's of the Earth – our Earth – from 6 billion kilometers away. The picture is called the Pale Blue Dot. And it shows, visually, just how minuscule our entire world actually is. We live on a speck.

Image Courtesy of: Pale Blue Dot

Though the whole "we don't matter" concept isn't exactly inspirational, it's nice (and necessary) to regain a sense of perspective.

Have you ever seen Horton Hears a Who? (It's my favorite childhood movie, by the way). If you haven't experienced it, I'll enlighten you:

This is an absurd animation written by Dr. Seuss and some other guy name Jeff. It's about Horton, an elephant, who lives in the jungle with all his jungle friends. One day he comes across this little crumb on a flower and manages to discover that there is, in fact, a little city of people living on this speck.

At the end of the movie, the camera "zooms out" to reveal that Horton and all his jungle pals are ALSO living on a speck. Despite the fact that I was only 8 years old when I first saw this film, it caused me to consider the idea: what if we, too, live on a speck? And the reality is that, when you think about it, we do. We live on a speck. Sure, the world is gigantic in comparison to an ant or a caterpillar. But in comparison to the universe, our world is nothing but a speck. A pale blue dot suspended between the stars.

Whether this matters to you or whether it doesn't, it's certainly something to think about. I used to believe that we, as humans, were too small. I thought that we were too insignificant, stuck here on this tiny planet. In actuality, the universe is just too big. No human is ever going to explore the entire macrocosm, and that's a fairly unsettling realization. The universe is too big. You cannot reach up and touch a star. If everything were a bit smaller and a bit less infinite, then maybe – just maybe – you'd matter a little more.

Intro To The Opinionated

You should know: I did not choose to start this blog. I did not wake up one morning and think to myself, gee, what fun it would be to create a web log. I did not discover blogger on my own and I certainly did not scream with joy when I found out this would be a school assignment.

You should also know: Most of the people in my class are not aiming to write about anything important. This isn't a bad thing (believe me, I love reading about my classmates' opinions on mashed potatoes and the latest football game). I'm just not planning to do that. My English teacher told us to chose a topic that we care passionately about, and while I don't care passionately about many things, I happen to care about caring about things. As humans, we are allowed abundant knowledge. So, if I'm honest, it kind of bothers me when people spend their time obsessing over things that don't matter.

You should know this, too: I'm not trying to offend anyone. If you're super emotional about swiss cheese then awesome, good for you. And maybe you couldn't care less about the things I find significant. That's cool too.

I guess I'm just trying to tell you not to root yourself in things you don't care about. If you're in love with something and it makes you happy, then great. Find what matters to you. Then, if you're anything like me, you'll write about it.

Welcome to my blog. I genuinely hope it doesn't suck.

Stick Figure Courtesy

Donald Trump Photo Courtesy

I suppose I should start by introducing myself, though I'm not really sure how to do that. My name is Abbi, I'm a freshman in high school, and I have no idea how to do anything. As of right now I am sitting in the basement eating grapes and watching Friends.

This whole idea is sort of funny to me. I'm not sure why anyone would voluntarily read something that I wrote just to meet the 500 word count. You're probably wondering when I'm going to start talking about "things that matter." You're probably wondering why you should care about my opinion at all.

My dad once asked me, in the middle of a fairly heated argument about equal rights, "What do you, a fifteen year old girl from [my wealthy hometown], know about any of this?" And despite being agitated and wanting to punch his face in, I had to admit that he was right. I'm cisgender, straight, white, and privileged. It's not like I've ever truly experienced these types of things head-on. Half the things I write about have never happened to me.

But I still understand it. I see things and I acknowledge them. There's problems in the world – lots of them – and I get that. I like to think I'm not ignorant. Maybe I don't have the experience, but I have insight and compassion. As Nick Giovanni said, "Writers don't write from experience. Writers write from empathy."