A new school year could mean different things for everyone. It could mean more stress, anxiety, new opportunities, and so much more. I would say a new school year is definitely perfect for a fresh start. Many people forget things they’ve learned in school over the summer, and they forget about bad grades or the person they were just a year before. When you enter the school, being a grade above what you were just a few months ago, you get to move on. You can choose your path—you could lock in on all of your assignments and focus solely on keeping your grades up, or you could choose to relax a bit and not worry too much about grades. Of course, those are not the only choices of how you live your life in school; it isn’t merely black and white. Whatever you want to be or do this school year, you still have lots of time to choose. You don’t always have to focus on academics, but instead open your plans sometimes here and there. You never should focus too much on your grades, and you should always go and have fun.
I think that whether you’re returning to the same school or entering a brand new school, things can be stressful. Stress is one of the most common things people experience during their school years. You might stress about making friends, keeping grades up, or even your looks. But in my experience, you’ll do just fine. Although I’m just a freshman, and I have many years to come, based on my past experiences, I knew that I would be just fine entering a brand new school. Returning to a school can also feel like moving to a brand new school—new students, new teachers, and new rules. But afterall, it’s a new school year, not everything will stay the same forever.
Just like every year, a new school year means that you can try new things. That could include trying out for a sports team, learning a new instrument, or joining new clubs. There’s so many things you can do with a fresh start. Even though trying new things could be scary for some people, it will always be worth it. Who knows, you might end up loving this new thing, or you could find new friends. Never be afraid to take risks by trying something new; you’ll never know if you’ll hate it or love it if you don’t try it. Of course, this does not mean that you should do something dangerous or anything you truly don’t want to do. Your new thing for the year doesn’t have to be just school related. It could be something that helps or changes you mentally or physically like journaling, trying new foods, or finding a new hobby. Be safe, and always know what you’re getting yourself into before you try new things, but don’t be afraid.
A new start can be scary sometimes, but know that everything will be okay. Whatever the situation is, you’ll get past it, and you’ll get better. There will be days where you don’t feel your best, and that’s okay, it’s normal, we’re all human. There’s going to be days where you feel pressured or rushed into doing something, calm down and take it slowly. And, when you have those days when you feel like it’s the end of the world, it’s most likely not. Even if you go through rough times mentally and/or physically, just keep going; it will be worth it in the end. Whatever you’ve done in the past that you find embarrassing, or cringy, it truly doesn’t matter. After all, no one’s going to remember, leave the bad memories behind and move on. Holding on to the bad, embarrassing, cringy moments isn’t going to make yourself a better person; it’s only going to drag you down. If you keep looking back at something cringe, you’re not going to have the space to grow. This school year, know that you can be an entirely different person.
School may already have started, and things might feel the same as the year before to some people but, when you think about it, so many things have already changed. First, you yourself. Your mindset might’ve changed; you could’ve grown an inch or two; you might look older or just different in general; your perspective could have changed; the list goes on. Second, the school. There might be new rules like the cell phone ban; you have a different schedule, new people in your classes. Lastly, the world itself has changed. You should embrace this change and have the mindset of being new, how you, yourself are new. Think about all of the negative things that happened to you the year before, and leave that behind. Now you have a blank canvas where you can have a brand new start. Don’t erase your past self, but instead polish it. You do you, this is your new start, it’s your own responsibility if you pick the wrong path, but just know that even if this just wasn’t your year, you still have next year to have another brand new start.