From Recess to Responsibility: A Guide to High School Transition

In this episode Eryn, Josh, Loni, and Sofia discuss the exciting but nerve racking experience that is transitioning from elementary school to high school. 

Eryn leads the conversation with topics of best classes, favourite memories, and guidance from our YAs. 

Transcript

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Welcome, everyone to the gro podcast where we help you navigate the exciting journey of life and touch on some amazing topics. I'm your host Aaron and joining me today is Lonnie, Josh and Sophia. Today we are diving into major milestones in every student's life. The transition from grade eight to grade nine will cover tips and tricks to make the most of your first year in high school. The best courses to take and share some of our favorite high school memories. Moving from middle school to high school can be both thrilling and a bit intimidating. It's a time of new beginnings, new friends and new opportunities. But how do you make the most of it? Here are some tips to help you navigate this transition smoothly. Tip number one stay organized high school comes with more responsibilities and a heavier workload. Invest in a good planner or use a digital calendar to keep track of your assignments, tests and extracurricular activities. staying organized will help you manage your time effectively and reduce stress. Tip number two get involved High School offers a wide range of clubs, sports and activities. Join clubs that interest you try out for sports teams and participate in events. Not only will you make new friends, but you'll also develop skills and discover new passions. Tip number three build good study habits the academic demands in high school are higher than in middle school. Set aside dedicated study time, find a quiet place to work and don't be afraid to ask for help if you're struggling. Remember, it's okay to reach out to teachers and classmates for support. Now let's talk about some of the best courses to take in grade nine. While the specific options may vary depending on your school, there are a few subjects that are essential and can set you up for success in the years to come. There are the core subjects like English math in science and social studies. Now I will bring this to the group discussion and ask you guys what some of your favorite courses in high school were and why? Well, I think one of my favorite high school courses was called Business Technology. And so in business technology, we got to learn everything from like Photoshop, how to build websites with Dreamweaver, Flash, which is just like animation. And like it taught us a PowerPoint, Word, Excel, just the basics of everything. That class was so much fun, the projects included was amazing. And the purchase to plant computers. Time and time again, like the 40 minute class get demands, however long it was. We get into all trouble once in a while because we've been playing more computer games and actually working on our assignments. Aside from that, it was just amazing classes so much fun. And if you guys haven't business Tech course, I highly recommend you guys take it. Wow, that's awesome, Josh, um, my favorite high school course would probably actually be drama. And I'm not very much a drama person. But I really enjoyed it. And it was really fun class to take with my friends. So any chance you get to take electives with your friends, I would highly suggest that it makes class that much more fun. Yeah, going off that Aaron I also did a class with friends. And it was arts and crafts. So it was less intense than like actual art courses that were offered. Because it was a little bit dumbed down from that it was more just to have fun in an art class that you could take. And I did it with friends. And I really enjoyed it as well. So I'd say my favorite class was grade 11 law. We did like a mock trial at the end. And that was so much fun. I was one of the lawyers. And yeah, like we had every group had a different story your case to do. And yeah, but people got pretty heated and sassy during it. And I didn't realize I'm like that sort of things. Do you guys think that the course has got better? Like through the years like grade? 910 1112? specialize? Yes. Yeah, more specific, which is exactly like when you move to university and stuff, they get even more specific. So we're college that's really Same with me, Sophie law class in grade 11. Because the one class I will always remember as well is even grade 11 law. And then I took grade 12 law. And we did like big mock trials each year. And so if you can't handle the truth was great. Yeah. And the field trips, were cool to in grade 12 law, we got to go to the criminal court and Toronto and actually got lost in the court ended up in the judge's chambers somehow. Long story don't ask me It's okay. But I gotta squirt it out with with a judge. She was pretty cool. She was really nice. But ya know, it was it was really interesting to just see how criminal law works and just like the mock trials, and everything was super fun. Learning just like the I'm gonna say constitution, that's crazy. It's your rights. That was That was awesome. I think that classes that are like, more hands on. Were something that I prefer, like if I'm gonna go in a class and sit there and listen to a teacher or Yeah, I don't want To don't want to listen to that, like you would get bored, right? But when a class has like activities and games that you're playing with your friends and just more interactive pieces, I found that I was more drawn to those classes and pay more attention. Those costs, migrate. 10 can teach, you're not going to name names, because he's still he's still a great guy. But he had such a monotone voice. And it was the first class at 9am in the morning, and it's like a everybody. How are you doing today? Hope you had a great weekend. Yeah, it could be hard to listen to it put especially early Yeah, especially that early on was asleep. But like the drama classes we put on like haunted houses and like plays, and you could tell they were thriving. I was not thriving. I can class in the morning. I was sleeping. So yeah, those are those are my favorite classes. But yeah, I definitely agree hands on. Classes are way better than all Yep. Perfect. All right. Now let's address something that is very important. It is okay to feel nervous and start like about starting high school. Change can be very challenging, and it's normal to feel a mix of excitement and anxiety. High School is a new environment with different teams and expectations and it can take time to adjust. Therefore, you need to embrace the change and give yourself Grace during the transition period. Remember that everyone else in your grade is going through the same thing. And it's okay to ask for help or talk about your feelings with friends, family and teachers. Over time, as you become more familiar with your new surroundings and routines, you'll start to feel more confident and comfortable. Change is a part of life. And it's also an opportunity for growth. High School is a chance to learn more about yourself, meet new people and explore new interests, embrace the adventure and be open to the possibilities that high school brings. High school isn't an also an amazing time to create memories. And I would like to put it out to the group again to discuss with them what their favorite High School memory is, and why Josh would like to start us off. Well, my favorite High School memory. I think my the one that is probably my favorite is the Relay for Life competition. So we used to do so every year. I don't know if they still do it every year now. But when I was in high school every year, we do like a Relay for Life. Just organized like just a big bat. And so all the schools would come to my school because we had a giant field. And everyone we're just literally bringing tents, and sometimes sleeping bags, and ever since it wasn't an overnight thing, but like they were just camping chairs, everything like that. It was fun. And basically, we had to go long track. So one of our teammates because we had to do everyone had to get like the teams and raise enough money to participate. And so one of our teammates would be walking the track for like 30 minutes with either not one of our teammates as well just so they have a buddy while the rest of us were like playing cards or getting food or just hanging out with like other other students from other schools during dream that and then we just kind of switch and so it was just this big event with live music food trucks were everywhere. We got this bouncy castle, we got to like battle each other with these like a rubber. I don't know, it's like, it's like a sore like, it's Yeah, I know what you're talking about completely dominated that game. So good. My teacher came up with All right, awesome. So that's probably my favorite memory. Nice. Um, I would say that my favorite High School memory. In high school, I played a lot of sports. And I got involved a lot. And that's how I met like a lot of my friends. And I loved I played like Ultimate Frisbee, which was super fun for the lacrosse team and the hockey team. And it was just a really great way to meet people and put yourself out there. And then also it was like after school practices. So you kind of got something to look forward to after school and meetings at lunch and thing. So if I could give you any advice it would be to get involved, whether that not be like within sports, but like also there's councils, there's different clubs, and just trying to put yourself out there to the best of your ability because I think it's really beneficial in high school. It allows you to meet new people. And yeah, sure, ya know, for sure it's a fresh start. And I really enjoyed my high school career be like because of sports. Um, to go off of that I wasn't really a huge sport person. But however, I did do rugby and I loved it. I am not a very aggressive person didn't get a lot of playing time, but it was a really great experience. So that goes off like my favorite experience in high school was that every single year we would host like rugby tournaments at our school. So teams from like all over Ontario would come and it was like a full day of tournaments and only the like, although I only did it one year it was so fun. And my best friend even still to this day was on the team and she was like Team Ontario and it was just like so great to see her thrive and meet like all those people on the team and see them in their elements and like all the classes would come out and watch and then you got to like Meet people and like see them watching the team. Never so great. Morale was definitely up. And also a community feel to like you also you feel included within everybody as well, which is really nice. Yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah, I think my favorite High School memory was on Muskoka trips. So for the grade nines every year, they would take him on a three day, Muskoka trip, like an orientation, getting to know other people making new friends and stuff. And then after grade nine, the older students have the opportunity to go on that Muskoka trip, like as a leader or like mentor for the grade nine is getting them to like bond and stuff. So I did that, like I went in grade nine, I met my best friend on that trip. And we had a really great time. We're like, you know what, let's apply to like, be a leader for next year. So we did that. Yeah, it was always just so much fun. You got really close with the people you were with, we weren't allowed to have our phones or anything. And, yeah, it was nice being out in nature, just talking to people. I think field trip field trips are always fun, because you got to leave school, like everybody was always excited to go like get to go on the bus. But that was the thing with sports is like we play away games. So you get to go like leave school early and go on the bus. And I like that. However, with that being said, if you are choosing to get involved, you also have to make sure that you're able to balance your school life and your, your, like extracurricular life, right. Like, if you're playing a bunch of sports, but you're falling behind in school, that's not going to be beneficial for you at all. So making sure like, you know, you join one sport and make sure making sure that you can balance and if you can't, then you you know, you stop playing that or you only go to a certain amount of practices, kind of things like that. And I'm sure your teachers would help you with that as well. But because a piece of advice is to make sure that you're ensuring that you're balancing your school and like your extracurricular life, because school is the most important thing, and then comes the extracurriculars. Yeah, teachers will definitely help you out with that. Especially I find gym teachers, I don't know. High School gym, teachers were usually like the go to for advice. They want to get guidance counselor or anything like that. They're just like, hey, give me some life advice here. What can I do? And they hit you with this, like, when life gives you alone, there was always something like that. But ya know, definitely teachers will help you out. Just ask and see what they have to say. And if one teacher doesn't help you out, go find another teacher. The next one and just keep going. Keep going. Yeah, interesting. Somebody you said that you guys want to Muskoka in grade nine. Used to go in grade eight? Yes. I went to grade eight, my school would agree. Yeah. And then like the mentor thing we had, when we got to grade nine, we had something called a moving crew to grade 10. And I was a lake leader. Yeah, I like got to, like the grade nines would come in. So I was I would have, I would have been in grade. I know. I think it was in grade 10 When I did that, or maybe it was, yeah, when grade 10. And then when the grade nines came in. I like led them and showed them the school and help them with it. Yeah. Yeah, it was also like, sorry, it was a great support to because then don't you wear the shirts the first day? Yeah, like any questions, you can always go to link leaders. And I remember on my first day, I was so scared. My boss was so late. And I was running. So behind. I didn't know where my classes were. So I went up to the first link leader I saw I was like, I need this room number. Where is it? And they like brought me right up there because I was like, late already, but they were just hanging out just waiting for the little stragglers that were coming in. And yeah, help. So well. I felt like that in grade nine. So I think that's why I chose to be linked leader because I'm like, I would have loved to have had somebody there that could have helped me instead of just, you know, like that, like a support system, like you said, which which is great. So yeah, I did that. I also did a student council, which was really cool. It was called, I was called like SEC or something. And that was really fun because you kind of got to like make like decisions, important decisions. And it was another way to get involved in meet people. And we actually did a trip to Niagara Falls, which was really was really fun for like a there was like a big meeting and presentations and stuff like that. But also a dance party at the end. So it was super fun. Yeah, the trips are actually the best in high school and it's always selected especially in science classes. I don't know what you guys but my science class we got to go like fishing essentially for like, like crayfish Delta concrete fish. Yeah. So we have to go I don't remember like speed river just like just like the north and south in the speed river. And we had to catch like all these different like, prey fish. We got to go into the ponds and everything and that was just an entire day of grade nine science. My brother did that too. He loved it and then just seemed like fell hikes and originally got bubble soccer. Oh yes. Remember that? I did like track and field did any of you do like cross country track and field? Just kidding. But that was super fun and you do like there's like track needs so then you'd see like your friends from Like other schools and like meet people like that, which is really cool. I did just have one more question. For the grade eights that are listening, do you have any piece of pieces of advice for them within like their transition to grade nine, like, obviously, you guys, like expressed that you were nervous and like you've laid on your first day. So are there any pieces of advice that you would give to the Greeks listening? I would say maybe, like, I was so stressed about it. But it is like a very scary experience, but also like, look at like the very positive side, and like the excitement within it, because I think I kind of lost that side of it. And I just thought it was like, so stressful, and so scary. But at the same time, it is really exciting. So you kind of got to take that in in the moment, and you only do it once. So you got to really enjoy it as you go. And you'll meet tons of people. And yeah, I would say just piece of advice is being yourself. And I think like from myself in high school, I was always wanting to be included with the groups and and like, don't change who you are for other people like friendships is a huge aspect of high school and whether you're meeting new friends, losing friends, that's going to happen. But I think like always staying true to yourself and doing what you want to do. And making choices for yourself and not for other people would be a big piece of advice. Because I know when you get into grade nine, like following people's footsteps is way easier than making your own path. But my advice to you would be to create your own path and do what you want to do so that you have the best high school experience that you could have. Yeah, I agree. I think like you Cemani it's very stressful and very scary, but also very exciting. Just take a step back, take a breath because it's all very, it's a lot of information. All that one's very overwhelming. But you'll you'll find your groove, everything's fine. After after literally, the first three days or even like the first week, you know what's going on, you know, it's, you find that you find your groove. I haven't met one single person who's like, Josh, it's after a week, I don't know what I'm doing anymore. Like not everyone every single time I know and then what's going on. So give yourself three days and hacks and a week to just find where you belong and just kind of fit in just do you. Yeah, I think for me, the scariest part of starting high school was, yeah, making friends like going into grade nine, like not many people from a grade eight class are going to the same high school. So didn't really know a whole lot of people. Yeah, so don't be afraid to put yourself out there. Don't worry about like, turning to the person next to you in class being like, hey, like, what's your name? Like? Don't be like, oh, like, That's lame. That's embarrassing. Like everyone's in the same place as you they're also nervous. So yeah, don't be afraid to talk to people. And you know, it's okay. If it takes you a while to find your friend group. Like, I don't think I had a solid group of friends until like, second semester of grade nine. So yeah, don't rush it. Don't panic, you'll find your people. Don't worry about the clicks, like athletes. That doesn't exist anymore. It's not as it's not like that anymore. And the only people that make it like that is left even to it. So like Sophia said, just if you see someone that like, oh, they look pretty popular. They're not. They're not. They're just the same thing as you. Right? So just, Hey, how's it going? What's your name? Cool. Want to go get lunch for somebody that it's that simple. Really. It's that simple. Yeah. Anyways, to wrap things up, remember that transitioning from grade eight to grade nine is a big step, but it is also a very exciting one. Stay organized, get involved, build good study habits, choose courses that interest you and embrace the change and most importantly, enjoy the journey and make the most of every opportunity. Thank you for tuning in to the grove podcast. If you have any questions or topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes, feel free to reach out until next time, I'm Erin. We wish you a fantastic start to your high school career. Bye everybody.