Dear Ninth Graders,

When you enter ninth grade, push yourself as hard as you can. Don’t take any year of high school for granted. I know you’ve been told that all before, but it really does pay off when you’re a senior and going off to college. I’m in eleventh grade now, and my past two years of high school have flown by now I feel like there’s not enough time to have all the classes I would like to take that would help me in college. When you push yourself as hard as you can, you feel accomplished whenever you get your report card, and that’s a great feeling. Also, colleges will want you to attend their school because they will be able to tell you want reach your goals. When you get older and think about your high school years, you don't want to say to yourself "Gosh, I know I could have done so much better my freshmen and sophomore year if I took it more seriously." Looking back on my own experience, I wish I did. I know I could have tried harder and done much better. Oh, and one more thing. Don't procrastinate in your school work. It's a bad habit of mine, but in the end, you just put more stress on yourself. You also fall behind in class, and that's never good.

My freshmen and sophomore year, I didn’t push myself that hard. I made sure I had passing grades, and I was fine. By the end of my sophomore year, I realized I needed to get better grades if I wanted to pursue my dream of becoming a doctor and go to college. Luckily at the end of my sophomore year I got to pick all my classes I wanted to take for my junior year. I signed up for classes I thought would be interesting to take to help me pursue my dreams. It was easier for me to push to push myself my junior year because the classes I am now taking are interesting to me and I enjoy them. It’s my junior year, and I wish I had pushed myself as hard as I’m doing now, because I know it would have helped so much. Don’t procrastinate. It’s one thing that won’t help you with your grades, and puts more stress on you.

Another piece of information I would like to share with you coming into ninth grade would be to not focus on popularity or who you hang out with. It will only last for four years, and all the energy you put into impressing the "cool kids" because at the end of your four years of high school you may never see them again. Soon after that you will be in college, with new people. Depending on what you choose to do, you could be trying to impress your peers all over again, or trying to find people who will help you succeed. ?

Don’t lose yourself in crowd of the cool kids, or the druggies because if you get involved with them, they’ll just pull you down. You won’t reach your goals. When you want to do your homework, study, or something that will help you succeed in your dreams, they’ll just make you feel bad about yourself, exposing you to drugs or drama. It’s not worth trying to be cool by doing drugs, or fitting in with rude and fake people. Your real friends, the people who will help you succeed, won’t make you do drugs. They will accept you for who you are and always be there when you need them to be. They will form the friendships you will want to carry on forever.?