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I’m going to public school for my senior year (my first time in a regular school in years). What should I do? What clubs should I join? What things did you do/wish you had done/are doing in high school? I missed out on a lot of normal high school events/activities and I want to make this year memorable. Thanks!
High school doesn't matter as far as friends go so just do what you like and be yourself. I'm two years out of high school and I talk to exactly zero of my high school "friends".
Just enjoy yourself and don't do anything silly that will hurt you long term.
Be you. Don't try to blend. People will flock to you. Also pick a career path now and pursue it. If i had a 2nd chance those are the things i would do.
High school is an awful experience for many people because of cliques. They're an inevitable consequence when you force together a large number of emotionally immature, hormonal kids who are mostly still unsure about who they hell they are. Coming into senior year after being out of the formal educational system for years is like you parachuting into the middle of foreign country you know nothing about. There will be various clans within the larger society, all kinds of informal rules about what's "normal" and an established pecking order. You won't belong to any of those tribes and you'll know diddly about how people are expected to behave.
If you want to blend in, you'll need to figure out which tribe you most naturally belong to. The Wikipedia article on adolescent cliques has a list of the most common groupings which might be helpful.
Alternatively, you could just ignore all that adolescent bullshit (it really is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things) and focus on the academic side. As Lestat says, that's mostly BS too, but the classes are hoops you need to jump through in order to get handed the magic piece of paper at graduation.
As for what clubs you should join, how can anyone here give you advice on that? You know what you're interested in, so check out what's available and try a few things. Just try not to over-extend yourself on the non-academic side at the expense of how much time you have to spend doing the actual shool-work.
I assume that even though you haven't been attending school, you have had some sort of life over the last few years, and you do have some sort of social network. If so, I suggest you try to maintain that. When it comes down to it, the only thing you definitely have in common with the kids you'll come into contact with in high school are that they were born around the same time as you and they live in the same area. It's highly likely that once you finish high school, you'll never see most of them again.
For what it's worth, I quit high school the day after my sixteenth birthday, which was about six weeks after I started attending high school (tenth grade where I lived). That was nearly fifty years ago now, and I've never once regretted the decision.
I appreciate the advice. Unfortunately I haven’t really had a life the last few years. I lived with what amounted to abusive parents and basically haven’t left the house for years except when absolutely necessary. As a result I’ve gotten to be rather socially awkward, and I know that’s the worst thing you want to be in this situation. I actually should’ve graduated last year. I’ll be a bit older for high school, as I just turned 19. I fell behind in fifth grade as my parents decided to pull me out for a year. They got into some trouble with truancy people and I went back for the last couple of months of 5th grade and since I did so well in standardized testing they let me move on to 6th. It didn’t make much of a difference age wise as I was born just a couple days before the age cutoff for kindergarten, so had I been born just a few days later I would been held back naturally anyway. It wasn’t until this year that I was old enough to obtain the documents I need to enroll in school in time to do so, and that I got away from my parents (as I said I should’ve graduated last year, and if I hadn’t fallen behind in 5th the year before). I could have gone with the GED path, but I’ve done rather well in AP diagnostic tests and if I go to public school they’ll pay for all of the exams. I am aware that it is extremely unlikely to happen but I hope to enroll in one of the “big name” universities to study physics, and many of them require several AP exams to enroll competitively. It’s rather ambitious but if you don’t try you don’t know what could’ve been. I was also screened at my last doctors visit and pre-diagnosed with low to mid grade depression, likely as a result of lack of a social life. Some people suggested going the high school path may give me some time to develop the social skills I lack. I know a lot of people say some of their best memories were from their high school years. Insofar as the clubs, I don’t really know what I’m interested in. I know that sounds odd, but for years I lived with a father that gave you no choice but to agree with everything he believed in and take interest in everything he wanted you to. It wasn’t until the last year or two that I realized I never took time to really form opinions and interests of my own. It became second nature to just agree with whatever I was told to without a second thought. I’m still working on reminding myself of the difference between I believe in and what I’ve been told to believe. I read somewhere a great piece of advice that sometimes helps me: toss a coin to make a decision and in the split second before it lands what you truly want is what your hoping for. Over time you can sort of begin to do this in your head. Insofar as the academics, I’m not too awfully worried about that. I’ve been in love with math and science forever, and taught myself up to calculus by the time I would’ve been in 6th or 7th grade. I was able to enter as a senior this year because I was able to test out of almost all of my other required credits and received among the highest scores possible. Of course I know most of this stuff is BS, but unfortunately in our society (especially today where a huge number of new jobs require degrees) we have no choice if we want to be successful. Insofar as socializing with kids in high school, I know I probably won’t see any of them after the year is over. But it’s been unbelievably lonely and isolated the last few years, especially seeing my sister (who is treated much differently than I, for what reason I don’t know) having such a great time with her group of friends. Companionship, even if it is for such a relatively short period of time, would be amazing. And i’d like to end with a side note. A relative of mine (never really met her and haven’t spoken to her in years), in her late 30’s to early 40s or so, gets together with a small group of her high school friends every other week in some sort of crafting group or something like that. She talks regularly with a couple of them, even with a husband and several kids. I know this is exceptionally rare, but I guess sometimes you do meet lifelong friends in high school. And finally I’d like to apologize if this is written like crap. I’ve been busy lately and haven’t slept in ages and I’m so tired the screen looks blurry and I fell asleep halfway through this!
First, it wasn't "written like crap". The main criticism I'd make is that your post would have been more easily readable if you'd occasionally used the carriage return key. I'd also suggest that you review the rules for the appropriate use of commas before starting work on any English essay assignments. Apart from that, you expressed yourself clearly, and I'm sure your vocabulary, grammar and use of punctuation is better than that of most people your age.
You're clearly a very intelligent guy who's managed to survive a difficult childhood and maintain a generally positive, forward-looking attitude. Considering your history, it's not at all surprising that you're a little depressed.
It is true that some people do have very good memories of high school. Sometimes it was just another happy chapter in a charmed life, but sometimes it's like the Springsteen song 'Glory Days', and they're people who peaked in high school. When that's the case, is a pretty damn sad reflection on the lives they've had since then.
It is also true that some people maintain friendships formed in high school through their lives. It's possible you'll meet people in high school who are simpatico with you, and that you and they will value the friendship enough to work at keeping it alive in future years. I think you should be open to that possibility, but I also suggest that you try not to pin great hopes on it. Given your history, I can totally understand you really wanting it to happen - perhaps to the point of having unrealistic expectations about the friendships you'll form - but you might try to bear in mind that people generally don't respond well to those who come across as being desperate to be friends.
I have no idea if your aspirations for college are realistic. I'd hope that the school you'll be attending will have a guidance counsellor who can give you a some help with figuring out what's possible and perhaps some fall-back options you could live with if your aim seems a bit too high.
The socially-awkward scientist is a cliché, so I really doubt if proof of well-honed social skills is an entry requirement for any university. Perhaps you could do some research into whether the colleges you'd like to attend consider extra-curricular activities when looking at applicants, or if it's all down to SAT/ACT scores. If the latter, then I guess you'd be wise to primarily focus on the academic side of things, and not put too much effort into the social aspects of high school. (Bear in mind that you'll have plenty of opportunities to form a lasting network of friends with common interests once you're in college.) But if evidence of extra-curricular interests is important to the schools that interest you, then obviously you'll want to take that into account.
You say that you've always been interested in science and math. My understanding is that most high schools have one of more clubs that focus on those topics, so joining them would be logical first step in establishing a social network. You may find that talking to members about their other enthusiasms will spark other interests in you, and members will probably introduce you to other people, widening your field of acquaintances and making it more likely you'll establish true friendships.
Good luck.
I started working in the research department at a local radio station when I was a senior in high school.
Don’t do anything. Most friends you make there won’t last so it’s not that big of a deal same with most of what they teach you. Most of it doesn’t help in regular life. It really isn’t that important. The only thing that should matter is what you do after
Well you missed out on a good chunk of activities that would of given you some long lasting companionship. What are you into? As in what are your talents and see if the school has a club. Depending on the size of the school use your new student status to get some friends and then actually due some friendship stuff (heck you might even get yourself a bf or gf)
I would recommend doing some mildly stupid stuff in friendship outings to further forge friendship (dont drink or do drugs)