Hey, I'm going to be an upcoming freshman a few days from now. All of my closest friends don't have any classes or lunchtime with me, and I am a very quiet and withdrawn person. Does anyone have any advice or tips on how to survive high school? I would really appreciate it. Please be nice :)

Honestly, friends and all that is over-rated. Im not trying to sound like a loner or anything cause i have lots of friends but this year i made sure to stay out of the classes my friends may have. This was you can focus easier. This is coming from a someone who's about to graduate and who was pretty distracted with his friends in class. If it comes down to it, befriend someone who you may see in the lunch room and just make small talk. Works everytime. Oh and make sure to hang on to your hat, highschool flies by.

I am also a freshmen in High School but my classes have already started. The best advice I can give you is to relax. I know its hard because I was flipping out terrified that I was going to be thrown into a trash can. I know that sounds dumb but I have honor and gifted classes so none on my fiends are with me either. I am with eleventh graders all day and I thought they would be the death of me. When you get there you will see how all of you stressing out has been meaningless. Everything will be okay and I think not having classes with friends is helpful :) it keeps my mind on what I'm learning and I can see them at lunch.

Go into your classes with a bit of skepticism but also determination. High school is pretty pointless, but if you want to go to a decent college, you should still keep your grades up. Homework at my high school is a huge part of my grade in every class; be sure to hand it in on time. If your handwriting is bad, then type assignments out.

Even if you're not friends with them, try talking to at least a couple kids in each class. Get some numbers or add a few on Facebook so if you forget an assignment, you can just message them for the numbers/questions/etc.

Try to establish a good group to have lunch with within the first week. Don't be afraid to just sit down at a table and start chatting; that's the best way that you're going to edge yourself into a lunch table that can be your go-to for the rest of the year.

Talk to your guidance counselor about your required credits, too. Get a list of what classes you need to take to graduate. Plot out a rough schedule for the next few years with those classes. Take note of how many open slots there are after they've been put in, then pick the electives and classes that you want to take. Even if you don't follow through with this temporary schedule, it's a ton of help to plot it all out while you're still a freshman, especially if your high school has a lot of required credits that have to be taken in a certain order.

Don't give any of your friends your locker number and combo, no matter how close you are to them. Whether you get into a big fight or not, you're not going to be able to wipe their memory of it, and the school will not change your combination even if it becomes public knowledge amongst every student of your grade.

Detention isn't scary at all (or at least not in my high school). Don't be afraid to get it; it's only a wives tale that it'll be on your permanent record. Some school don't even keep track of the number of times you attend detention after the fact. Usually, it's just a group of kids in a room for a half hour doing whatever they want, so long as they don't talk.

Now, in school suspension? That shit is horrible. Don't do anything bad enough to get you in ISS. If you need to fight somebody, make sure they throw the first punch, and make sure there are witnesses on your side.

Also, don't be afraid of honors classes if you're not in them. Honors classes count higher than your regular ones, so even if you don't do great in them, they count higher on your weighted GPA so that it all balances out. Just take whatever class fits into the speed that you like to learn at; honors classes require a lot of fill-in-the-blanks and memorization and go at a slightly faster pace, meanwhile college prep classes are just the basic classes you would have seen in middle school. Unless you're really good at a subject and aren't interested in a social life, don't let your parents talk you into taking an advanced proficiency class. And definitely don't let your friends talk you into a general studies class; they count the lowest on your GPA (an A in a general studies class counts as a C in your weighted GPA at my school), and you basically don't do anything in them.

Those're all the basics ^o^ Just be wary, and don't be afraid to speak up. High school can be the best years of your life so long as you're careful to not take it too seriously.

Oh, and even though I said to talk to your guidance counselor about your required credits, be wary of guidance counselors. They're not allowed to refuse to give you a class if your parents already approved of it, but they will try their hardest to manipulate you into taking the classes they want you to take. Some of them are also just cunts. And never be afraid to go to their supervisor if you're not happy with what they say to you; it's a lot of fun going over their heads and getting payback when they're being cunts ;D

Hopefully you've got a good counselor, though.

Good luck with everything~

Highschool is really important so instead of focusing on friends or boys fix your attention to your classes. I avoid people I'm there to study and I don't need to gossip or date boys or make friends that end up stabbing me in the back. (I kneow...sounds harsh but hey, I'm on my last year of highschool X3 ) I have one good friend who isn't popular just like me. My advice to you would be to well not pay attention to the random people who do nothing but party (....okay my school is mainly filled with idiots....and sluts...) but be a kind person because kindness is important ^^ I made my one friend by being kind, I invited her over for coffee one day and we've been friends ever since (it's been like two years neow :3 )
I hope that I helped! That's just what I kneow from my own experiences but hey, I live in a small town in the middle of nowhere so other schools may be different! X3

I wouldn't suggest following >>6. That's a prime example of taking high school too seriously.

Don't be afraid to make friends or date, OP, even if it is just drama in the end. There's nothing wrong with partying so long as you're not stupid about it. Make sure your grades aren't too affected by it if/when you do decide to have a social life. And don't be -too- nice. If someone's a bitch to you, be a bitch back or else everyone will walk all over you; the last thing you want is to do is deal with bullying since it's something that usually goes away once you're in high school. If someone's nice, though, don't take their kindness for granted like the rest of your class will.