As seniors are preparing to plan out the rest of their lives post-high school, they can’t help but reflect on the moments that shaped their experience. That being said, seniors around the school were asked about what advice they want to give to the incoming freshmen class—because who better to dish out life lessons than someone who’s barely figured it out themselves?
Q: What do you wish you knew about managing your time and workload when you were a freshman?
A: “I feel that when I was a freshman, my workload wasn’t a lot. Throughout the years, it definitely increases so you have to remember to stay on top of things especially if you have extracurriculars. There is a lot of time you can use in school to do homework if you don’t have time at home,” Claire Tong (’25) said.
Q: How did you choose your classes, and what advice do you have for selecting courses?
A: “I would say that if you can handle it, take all honors and consider loading up on a few AP classes. It’s a great way to boost your GPA and if you take some of the easier AP’s the workload shouldn’t be too rigorous for your first year,” Gavin Jones (’25) said.
Q: How important is it to build relationships with teachers, and how should freshmen approach this?
A: “I think that building relationships with your teachers or a coach is good for letter of recommendations, especially your senior year. I do this by asking a lot of questions in class, going to see them after class has ended and asking them questions after, because whenever you have questions someone else probably does too, and this shows that you actually care about the content and like the way that they teach,” Jack Tetreault (’25) said.
Q: What advice do you have for making new friends and finding a social group?
A: “If you’re looking for friends I would suggest joining a club that you are interested in so that you find people that you have things in common with. I would also suggest trying out for a sports team at Forge because each program is really inclusive and a great way to meet new people,” Maya Tahir (’25) said.
Q: How did you decide which extracurricular activities to join, and how did they impact your high school experience?
A: “EMT was something I was interested in because of the growth and impact you make on your community while also exploring many different areas of healthcare to really get a true understanding of operations and policy while also reviewing many different specialties and problem solving strategies,” LJ Marshall (’25) said.
Q: What challenges did you face as a freshman, and how did you overcome them?
A: “When I was a freshman I got caught cheating. I had to redo the entire quiz and I ended up still failing the class. My advice to freshmen who are thinking about cheating is to tell them it just isn’t worth it. If I had just accepted the bad grade and didn’t cheat then I wouldn’t have failed the class and had to retake it. However, I was able to take this as a lesson and learn from it,” Jerrin Eisenmann (’25) said.
Q: What are some common mistakes that freshmen make, and how can they avoid them?
A: “One common mistake that I made as a freshman and my friends made as well was slacking off. I didn’t take school seriously my freshman year and that has heavily affected my GPA now as I’m trying to apply to colleges. Just because it’s your first year of high school and everything is new and fun, doesn’t mean it should distract you from prioritizing your grades,” Ava Lewison (’25) said.
Q: What study habits have helped you the most throughout high school?
A: “Not pushing off studying until the last minute. If I know I have a test at least a week in advance, I like to make a study guide and look at it for at least 15 minutes each night before the test. This way, I can feel 100% confident the night before and not have to stay up late cramming a bunch of information into my brain,” Savannah Howell (’25) said.
Q: If you could go back in time, what would you do differently during your freshman year?
A: “I would just stop caring what people think. I found myself constantly getting caught up worrying about what other people’s opinion of me was and that was such a waste of time, because none of that stuff matters in the real world. Now, I laugh at things people used to say about me freshman year,” Vannessa “Nessa” Sanchez (’25) concluded.
