Surviving High School Advice

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1. don't go out of your way to be popular, 'cause popularity is over rated.
2. find a club to join. if you're into acting, join the drama club. want to save the environment, start an environmental club. are sports your thing? go out for your fave, or hang around intramurals.
3. talk to your counselor about the classes offered. if you're going into junior or senior year, ask if you could take courses for college credit.
4. if you're not doing well in a class, ask for help. go to your teacher's room after school. if the school has a clinic you can go to for extra help in math or english or anything else, go!
5. i know most people won't want to hear this, but DO YOUR HOMEWORK!! !! I haven't done mine consistantly, and now I'm going to have trouble getting into a good college because of it.
6. don't be afraid to ask for harder classes if yours are too easy
7. make friends that will support you no matter what. mine stayed with me when i was diagnosed w/ AS and now our bonds are stronger than ever. keep your old friends from middle school too, but if you drift apart, don't push things too much.
8. remember, if you can make it through high school, you can make it through anything

l8ter my fellow Wrong Planeters!

Treasure the shadows, for they keep you.

Walk silently and carry a big stick, wether metaphorically or physically.

Fear the rich kids, for they are spoilt and arrogant.

Stay out of the sunlight.

Make friends with teachers.

Don't excel. Your success threatens the idiots and the idiots are the ones with muscles.

Regards
GM

If you want to do athletics, avoid team sports (soccer, basketball, football). The best sports are golf (if your school has a team), track, cross-country or swimming, because they are strict individual activities and your performance won't be influenced by others. Cooperation and team chemistry are not as important in these sports. Less chance of being hazed as well, although when I was on the track team I watched as a kid was stuffed in a locker.

I have to disagree with the poster above who said don't excel. I didn't and I found myself at a university with the same kids I'd been trying to get away from in high school (trading in basketball and wrestling jocks for frat boys) and had to work hard to try and get into a good grad school. Concentrate, buckle down, get great grades and SAT scores if you want to go to college. If you like engineering, get an 800 on the math SAT and go to an engineering school where everyone is connected by a love of engineering. If you go to a prestigious university, the kids are more accepting.

Most importantly, keep everything in perspective. Four years is not a long time in the scheme of things, although it feels like forever while you're going through it. It will end and you will look back and feel like it was only a brief moment.

I was a ghost. I didn't stand out and I didn't fit in. I was closer to the teachers than to the students. When you are friends with the admin and the faculty you can get away with things. When I was a senior I skipped my first class (which was library) about half the time. But I was friends with the librarian. You can make friends with the physics and math teachers and then you can get them to pull for you, lunch in their class, helping them after school. Reduces the time you are floating alone before/after school, etc.

Graduate early. I graduated at 3.5 years only because that was as early as I could graduate at the school I was at. I took core classes as electives so my senior semester was useless. I only needed 1 class to graduate. I could have graduated incredibly early but my mom refused to let me homeschool myself. This can make it the worse 2-3 years of your life and not the worse 4.

Keep one foot out the door. My mind was never on high school I was always half into college. I honestly wish I was into college more (taking AP classes, etc). But take the AP classes, get the college credit. CLEP anything you can. This lets you focus on taking your degree core classes, which in turn eliminates the amount of time spent around people who aren't math and science buffs.

Grades! I did crap in class until my senior year when I scored in the 99th percentile on some test and I pulled all As. But it shot my scholarship chances. Scholarships mean you don't have to freak out and work 40 hour weeks to afford college. Maybe volunteer with little gifted elementary kids, or an animal shelter to satisfy the community environment.

When you get to college. Revel in your uniqueness. I helped start a math club where we did nothing but eat pizza, drink beer, and talk about math. We did some fundraisers to afford trips to JPL and stuff. Join a research project, whatever you want.

I would sa try to get good grades and try to be the 'grey man', if you do not bring attention to yourself then you are more likely to avoid the nasty kids.

_________________
Health is a state of physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity I am not a jigsaw, I am a free man !

Diagnosed under the DSM5 rules with autism spectrum disorder, under DSM4 psychologist said would have been AS (299.80) but I suspect that I am somewhere between 299.80 and 299.00 (Autism) under DSM4.

That, or make yourself feared. Always works well if you modulate it.

Regards
GM

Try to be friends with as many teachers as possible, except the "popular" teachers that only like popular students.