After all the hard work, many students have only worn-out high school paraphernalia and, of course, their diploma to show for their effort. But to make a diploma really worth its weight, the smartest students take advantage of their time in high school by pursuing the activities that truly fit their interests or by making friends or meeting teachers that put challenge and excitement into their daily lives. Here are five ways to really get involved during your high school years and how to make your diploma really count.
Join or Start a Club
The quality of your participation in high school far outweighs the quantity of your memberships. Most colleges are looking for someone who excelled in one activity, rather than semi-participated in several. Furthermore, if when you look back at your diploma, you remember long days on the football field or in the auditorium, pursuing something you love, you will be all the more proud of your accomplishments.
Work Experience
Many people have said they learned the most about customer service or putting up with difficult situations or people during their high school jobs. It helps pass the time, and many people meet great friends at their first jobs that they remember for years.
Pick your Classes Wisely
When you look at your diploma, would you rather remember the year you balanced German, AP Art History and choir or the year you took basic classes that you weren't interested in and that you can't apply to anything? Additionally, many students have said that the difficult classes they took in high school really helped them out when they got to college and were enrolled in ALL difficult classes.
Ask for Help
Just as it is wise to ask for directions when going on vacation, it is smart to ask for advice in preparing for the world after graduation. High school counselors, parents, older brothers and sisters and college admissions advisors are all great people to turn to, whether you are interested in college or the working world. They can also give you some tips on how they made the most of their own high school careers.
Get Out There
No matter what else you do in high school, it will all seem like drudgery if you don't have friends to do it with. High school may be one of the last times in your life when you'll have a group of people that you see every day and that you have possibly known since elementary school. Take advantage of it and use this time to make connections and get acquainted with those people you have things in common with - it will make school fly by.
Although a high school diploma is just a piece of paper, the memories it represents will stay with you forever, so you should make sure to make the most you can of it.
