5. Do your homework

I do most of my homework, but some days I look at my pile and all I see is busy work. Meaningless and tedious assignments designed to make it seem as though there’s some sense of order and authority bestowed by the teacher, but everyone sees through it.

I think that if there is a way to shy out of doing your homework, you should. I’m not actively advocating that we slack off or lie to teachers about it. All I’m saying is that especially in my senior year, the teachers have given up on checking homework and trusted the students to do it because they should have the drive to learn, omitting one meaningless assignment isn’t going to kill you. Then again, you do have to make the judgment call: which assignments are essential and which are useless?

4. Take on more responsibility

Do not overwhelm yourself by taking on too many responsibilities all at once. You have the rest of your life to swamp yourself in obligations and priorities, so take it one step at a time.

When I started high school, I couldn’t drive, my mom had to double-check my suitcase when we packed for a trip. I wasn’t allowed to use the stove by myself, I was supposed to be in bed by 12, and I didn’t know how to use a washing machine.

Look at me now! I can pack a suitcase for myself, wake up by myself (mostly), drive myself to school and around town, cook dinners for my whole family, and I haven’t gone to sleep before 12 in months.

Despite this, I am glad that I still don’t do my own laundry and haven’t become a total adult. Gradual increments in responsibility help ease you into the next chapter of your life, but we don’t want to be overwhelmed or become an adult before we’ve had our last chance of being a kid.

3. Do lots of clubs/activities

When you start out at a new school, it’s important to get a feel of what all of the clubs and teams have to offer. Join 14, by all means, but don’t stick with them all. Spreading yourself thin means you have very little to contribute to each other; subsequently, the meaningful experiences from a particular club will be negligible.

Find a few clubs that you love, and stick to them. Root yourself in that soil and flourish! When you leave, you’ll have left behind your mark and be thankful that you didn’t stick with French Club, even if they had crepes. :(

2. Don’t let your friends slip away

Friendships are like plates of Earth’s crust. Together, we make up a community of say, high school students. These plates are constantly in motion; why screw with the forces of nature?

If someone is special to you, put up a fight for what you love, but if they are persistent in moving on, then let it happen.

From a first-hand account I can assure that many of my friendships in high school have come and gone, leaving me with nothing except pictures and memories. It used to bother me, but it doesn’t as much these days because it was probably as much my fault as it was theirs.

I wouldn’t even call it faults, I would call it the inevitable procession of life as we all grow apart in different ways.

Sometimes the tectonic shifts are gradual, happening over the course of a year. Sometimes they occur in earthquakes, leaving you in the dust and destruction.

Friends slip away, but the natural instinct is to find others that you can better relate to. You might not find them as easily, but they are out there, and taking the time to find the right people for you will be worthwhile, I promise.

1. Just be yourself 

Don’t hate me for saying this; there’s a nuance to the big bold statement above. If we’re being brutally honest, few people have ever had success being completely themselves. We’re all not born confidently and we all need motivation to change. However, others’ opinions shouldn’t want us to change, the recognition of our flaws should.

We always wonder how to be the perfect version of confident. I really and truly believe in faking it till you make it.

If I were 100% myself each and everyday, I’d have 2 friends. But instead, I have 4. SO HA, JOKE’S ON YOU. Just kidding…

Introverts, I think we need to push ourselves to be a little more outgoing than the wallflowers that we are. In my mind, it’s a back and forth between “should I raise my hand/go up on stage or not?” I know that if I don’t, I’ll be furious with myself for giving into my inner hermit.

• DP