It’s been a little less than four years since I attended the new-to-high-school pre-orientation Bridge Program in the summer of 2014, walking the halls of Parker as a student for the first time. Since then, I’ve learned some facts, read some books, made some friends, lost some friends, done a lot of things I regret, and a lot of things I don’t. But the entire experience would be for naught if I couldn’t share some sage advice with current high schoolers.

The first thing I’d say about high school at Parker is that it’s small. Before I came to Parker, my grade at my old school had eight kids, but somehow Parker feels smaller. The way that everyone seems to know your entire biography at Parker is startling. After about a month of classes and seeing people in the hallways, you’ll probably know just about everyone that you will know for the rest of your high school career.

And great as this can be sometimes–it’s lovely to lie on the floor of the hallway because you know everyone well enough, or to walk into a room absent of strangers–it also means that you shouldn’t tell anyone anything that you are not comfortable with your entire grade knowing. Nothing interesting stays secret for long. I’m not saying you shouldn’t trust your friends and confide in them, but be smart about sharing information.

Take classes that you wouldn’t normally. I don’t mean take Advanced Calculus if you aren’t on that track, but make an effort to try new things. For instance, this year I decided to take a poetry elective, despite hating poetry. The course gave me a different perspective and changed the way I think in a lot of ways.

There are a bunch of classes that you’ll have to take during your Parker career–U.S. History, Physics, World Literature–but there are also some courses that you might never take just because you think you’re not a poetry person. It’s sort of cheesy advice, but really try to step outside your comfort zone because you’ll pass up on some really cool opportunities if you don’t.

Get to know the adults in this building, and your advisor especially. The faculty and staff are what make Parker Parker. Your teachers have seen so much crap in their lives, and if you make time to lunch with them or hang out during Conference, they will impart so much wisdom, and share a wealth of funny stories.

When you reach junior year, there will be like a week or so in the spring, as ACT scores and campus visits become important, when all anyone can talk about is college. This will be the start of your classmates’ becoming the most annoying and intrusive they will ever be. If you can manage to remind yourself, try to bring other topics into conversation.

Don’t tell people your ACT score. Just don’t do it. It’s not a reflection of anything other than how many times you went to Academic Approach. College Counseling will tell you this a million times, but don’t let college stress take your focus off of school work. Universities look at your senior year grades and put a lot of weight on your first quarter marks, so keep studying.

While we’re on the topic of college, there are some things you’re going to do just to put on your application. Honestly, I kind of support that. Random extracurriculars for the sake of doing extracurriculars can be super fun. I would say do everything you can because getting involved in random clubs and activities and sports defined my senior year. I joined the golf team and learned that I am super bad at golf.  I joined Model UN and went to Mexico City. I would not have traded either opportunity for the world.

Especially because Parker is so small, and it’s very hard to avoid specific people, disregarding other people’s opinions of you is near impossible. It feels like everyone is judging you constantly, and honestly lots of people probably are judging you because it’s high school, and everyone is just as insecure and wanting friends as you are. Just try to make your own choices without thinking about anyone else. I think this is very true in the context of sticking up for things you believe in–don’t let your friends use slurs just because you’re scared calling them out will make them annoyed with you.

Having said that, don’t fall into the trap of senior year where you get into really petty fights with your friends because subconsciously you know you have to say goodbye soon, and it’s easier to say goodbye when you’re angry. It’s much more important to have friends senior year than to try to ease the pain of leaving them.

Make sure you spend some time with your family every week. Have fun on the weekends with your friends, but always tell your parents about your day and watch a movie with your sister because in four, three, two, or one years, you’re not going to see them every day, and you’ll miss them a lot.

The final piece of advice I would like to impart is that high school, in the grand scheme of things, is trivial.

It feels like everything, I know. I’m graduating in two days, and it still kind of feels like everything to me. But a lesson I learned much too late is that every little thing that keeps you up at night–all your friends are hanging out, and you can’t go…if you’d just remembered the word for “efforts” in Spanish, you would have gotten an A…you accidentally snapped at your friend, and you so didn’t mean it–is erased eventually.

I’m not saying you should go around doing whatever to whomever as if it doesn’t matter, because, believe me, your actions have consequences, but once you’ve made your bed, learn how to lie in it.

Have fun, kids, and make this place your home.