How do you deal with high school?

I got involved in things that I liked to do. I was in band and I was a member of broadcasting. So, I had band 1st period (which gave me some motivation to get up) and I had broadcasting the last 2 periods of the day (this gave me motivation to actually stay, because since I went to a campus high school, it was very easy to skip).

As for bullying, I learned to ignore it. I also learned how to defend myself. Once the bullies realized that I could defend myself, they didn't bother me nearly as much. I was bullied fore being a masculine female, so I'm not sure why they were surprised when I learned self-defense...

 

Hey KrisBrooks =)

I'm from Germany and my "Highschool Experience" might be slightly different from yours due to our school systems, but I think that doesn't really matter, right?

I really have fond memories of my last years of school. (Ok, that sounds a bit corny...)
I've made some really good friends during those years, with whom I was and am really close.
I guess we would have been the ones you refered to as not able to fit in, in some ways. We weren't the most popular kids around. Don't get me wrong, we weren't bullied or anything, we just didn't fit the description of being 'fly' (is that how you say it?? don't know...) But we were a group of people and stuck together, that was pretty cool =) And we experienced quite a lot together from typical boring school stuff to awesome pub crawl study trip memories.
I actually still meet up with them semi-regularly, even though we are all studying in different cities. We even go on vacation together once in a while (last trip was to sweden and denmark and it was awesome!!! )
And even though I really wasn't interested that much in getting good grades and getting my shit together at that time (now I regret it cause I could have done so much better in my A-levels...), I still loved to go to school.

Actually, I have to thank you for your post 'cause it made me recall my highschool years and that made my day =D

 

Interesting thread idea, and I'm really interested in reading other folks' replies.

High school was okay for me.

During grade 9, 10, and 11, I kept to myself, didn't talk to people, and all of my social activity was online and with a group of runners who I've been with since I was 7.
Anyway, so I didn't have many people I considered friends, but I was nice to people in my classes and I was always pretty fun to have in class: I'd keep it humorous, light, help people out, etc. So it's not like I was a dick, I just didn't think of anybody as a friend. Just classmates.

Then, during my Junior year, I won a Student of the Year award which was awarded to one male and one female from each grade level based on a few things: Academic performance, friendliness, and helpfulness. Teachers nominated students and voted for the entire year to award the two candidates. So I won that, and I wasn't really surprised to be honest. I was close friends with all of my teachers. My mom works at the high school I went to, so I kind of 'had it in' before I even got there.

Then, in my senior year, I was nominated for homecoming court. It was then that I realized that people really liked me, that they enjoyed having me in their classes, and that I shouldn't have been as distant my previous three years.
I felt bad about being so distant, but I also felt great that people liked me and that my friendliness had paid off.

Anyway - I graduated early from high school, so I'm not there anymore. I go back to visit my friends every few weeks.
I'm really sad that I didn't take the opportunities to be socially-involved that were offered, but I graduated pretty happy with myself.

I won an award from my teachers in grade 11, and an award from my peers in grade 12, so I consider that to be successful.

Weird bunch of rambling thoughts, haha. Oh well.
Thanks for the topic.

 

I personally hated high school, mostly because I had very few friends. College on the other hand, was awesome. I really came into my own.

 

Overall, h.s. wasn't bad for me; I enjoyed school, had some friends, was in band at first, and had some great teachers. It was about as white bread of a community as you can get in that part of FL without Jim Crow laws. Bible belt, homophobia running rampant, no way in hell I was coming out.

After h.s., well, life's been a rollercoaster. I'm blogging it on my profile here if you want the dirt, username is a big hint.

.Richard

 

I secluded myself, and just waited for it to pass like a storm lol probably not the best of moves... but here I am

 

HS was better than middle school
And college for me was WAaaaasY better than hs!!!
Stay focused on the goal!!!
Fly under the radar where u can if u like
Find activities OUTside of hs which u enjoy
Find out how many days of school u can miss and mAYBE miss a couple more than normal
Keep ur grades up if possible... They can matter
Waste time looking with friends and/or family at colleges
.
.
.

 

High school was great for me. My 9th grade was spent getting to know everyone because I was at a new school. My 10th grade was spent figuring out what I wanted to do during my high school years so I went into drama/theatre. I loved it. My 11th grade was about gaining new experiences and getting into a little trouble even though I never got caught. I rolled my first house that year haha. My senior year though will be a year I will never forget. My senior year was spent getting to know myself in a new and exciting way. This was the year that I realized I am gay. This was also the year that I talked to my birth mom for the first time ever, and I ran away from home after that. I did come back after a few days. Of course my graduation will be very memorable.

We held ours outside on the football field and someone forgot to turn off the scheduled sprinkler system. The sprinklers went off right in the middle of the graduation ceremony. It was funny. I thoroughly enjoyed my high school years.

 

High School was.....ok for me. Not too good and not too bad.

I focused a good deal on Creative Writing, made friends with some awesome teachers who helped me hone my craft and encouraged me to pursue writing. I was extraordinarily lucky to meet such kind people so dedicated to wanting their students to succeed in life. I still keep in contact with some of them via Facebook.

I was the type of person who wasn't too popular, but not a social outcast either. I was a goth in high school and mainly stuck with that crowd. They were very intelligent, kindhearted people as opposed to the gangsta crowd/jock crowd who were VERY homophobic. Any gay kid that was out got tormented.

I was a good student and earned a scholarship to college, graduating high school early with honors....but the one thing I regret was not coming out sooner. I missed out on a lot, like dating and being comfortable in my own skin because I let fear control me. If I could do high school over again, I would be open about my sexuality and ignore the haters.

 

Wasn't out in high school, simply because it wasn't until Grade 12 that I met a guy I was attracted to, so there wasn't any point in being out. However, I always feel so lucky to live where I do in Canada, because the board of education for my region has a strong pro-tolerance policy. Right from kindergarten until Grade 12, children are regularly exposed to pro-tolerance messages, which strongly convey that bullying someone over their sexuality is wrong. I also recall several teachers in my early years answering children's questions on the subject in a really fair and informed way. As such, at my high school, the prevalent attitude was that homophobia was wrong and bullying someone over their sexuality was unacceptable. If anyone beat someone up over their sexuality, they would surely have had their ass kicked by someone else. And while I'm not claiming everyone in my school was A-OK with homosexuality, regardless of their personal opinion on the subject, most people seemed in general agreement that it wasn't their business to interfere in other's relationships. There were a few guys who were out as gay or bi, and I don't recall their popularity being affected by it. In fact, I don't recall there actually being any drama when it became known they were gay.

Based on this, I've always felt that the key to spreading acceptance is starting with young children. I don't mean indoctrinating them into the LGBT community, but just sending very clear messages that it's wrong to judge someone based on their sexuality. It's been effective where I grew up, I'm sure it would work elsewhere. Unfortunately many countries, the US included tend to have a lot more issues in that area, and any mention of homosexuality to young children in school seems to draw drama (I think it's because people often forget that you can address homosexuality without having to discuss the sexual portion of it).

 

I'm bored and procrastinating doing schoolwork so I'm posting here, haha.

I'm halfway through my junior year, and I am just focused on graduating and getting OUT OF HERE. I'm out to the vast majority of the people I talk to, except the ones I sit with in nonstructured work periods, and one guy in my class. The students I'm exposed to on a daily basis are mostly progressive-thinkers (and are in very progressivey classes, like politics classes and global culture classes, etc.) but my town is very conservative. Luckily, I'm not overly popular, so when I eventually come completely out I don't think it'll make much of a splash.

I'm starting to get involved in my school GSA. I feel really comfortable/loved/welcomed in it and so far I don't feel judged when I go to meetings.

I take a lot of politics and literature classes, which is sorta difficult to navigate because of how much my identity and identity/intersectional feminism comes up. It doubles as good motivation to come out, though.