Grand Ole Times.

Nashville Tennessee, a once in a lifetime experience.
Show choir is a growing activity nation-wide, and I am fortunate enough to be apart of the famous Happiness Inc. Every four years Happiness travels to Nashville, Tennessee to compete in Show Choir Nationals against some of the best show choirs in America. We preformed on the Grand Ole Opry stage where many famous artists have stood and sang. Although lots of the members of our choir are not the biggest country fans out there, the experience on that stage in indescribable. Because of the tough competition and with how our show turned out for the competitive season, we did not know if we would make it past the prelims and be able to preform again in finals the nest day. Standing on that stage very well could have been the last time preforming for over half of out choir.
We were siked.  A number of  people from our other choirs made the trip down to Nashville and we could hear them loud and clear as we stood on the other side of that curtain, waiting for it to rise. They started singing "If you are Happy and you know it" and everyone on stage sang along on stage. We could only hear the front row from the stage, but my mother later informed me that the whole place was belting it, all of us on stage included. High school can take its toll on everyone especially  when everyone is trying to make everyone around them happy. It is especially hard in my opinion when you have students from all different grades with pre-decided friend groups in one choir and you tell them to act like a family. This year has been very difficult for me in that regard, however clapping my hands and singing that song on stage is something I will never forget.
Sometimes in high school there are going to be people who attempt to derail you and step in the way of you making memories. Now if the memories you want to make involve bad decisions, they are probably just looking out for you, keep them around. But those people who just try and prevent your from making good memories, please just push aside. I can tell you from a personally that if I would not have had my mother and good friends to tell me that those people do not matter, I would have wasted this once and a lifetime trip dwelling on something insignificant people said. Keep making good memories, do not allow yourself to remember only the bad moments in high school.
JSL

Sanitation.

Whenever I see something in a movie or T.V. show where there is one person stomping grapes in a bucket, I am disgusted. Which, I believe is a natural reaction to have. The first thing I think about is the stinky feet sweat that is being mixed in with the grape juice, or the toenail fungus. Now I do not consider myself a germaphobe by any means, but some people think about the worst-case scenarios, like I do when I think about grape juice, as they regard everything in their day to day lives.
I think the line that I draw with what is unsanitary is fairly reasonable. Bugs should be no where around food unless you are outside, and if a fly lands on it while you are out there you probably will survive. If your teammate is thirsty and is not kneeling over by illness, let them have a drink. It is not like it is a stranger who might have just gotten done eating cockroaches or something. Plus, you should get over that pretty quickly if you ever plan on having a significant other, unless you are only planning to kiss them right after they brush their teeth. Washing your hands is something you should be doing regularly, but do not make it an obsessive habit. I personally think that a lot of the germs on your hands that you acquire throughout the day will in the long run only build up your immune system. Give your body a chance to build antibodies and fight against the illnesses you are so afraid of.
I understand that a phobia is a phobia and sometimes people are not able to prevent themselves from seeing the very worst things, and I feel bad for them. If I have chocolate cake at a graduation party and a fly lands on it, I am still eating that cake. To some people though that fly will have stolen that pleasure from them and I truly feel bad for them, because it was probably a really good cake. Maybe those who do not have an actual phobia of germs but just do not like them could just think of the heads up your body is getting throughout the day with the different germs you encounter.
Eat the cake.
JSL

Stress.

In high school, there will be points in the year where stress becomes a chronic state, rather than just an adjective used to describe yourself for one particular day. Some of these instances will be in the crunch time of your sport season, the weeks leading up to finals, and when your friends are all in a spat. As someone who gets overly stressed and has had multiple weeks filled with stress induced stomach pains, one may think I am not qualified to give advice on such topic. I, however believe that I am fully capable and will proceed to write this anyways.
In any instance where you feel stressed, you first need to analyze the situation at hand. You need to determine if the problems you are faced with are really worth loosing any sleep over. In most cases, they usually are not. Getting worried about a big race, meet, match, or game will only keep you from doing your best. Studying all night rather than getting a good night's sleep the day before a test may seem to work, but for finals, there is not enough hours in a night for it to work. If you do not know the material, there is little you can do the day of, or in the wee hours of that morning. Allowing an argument between anyone that does not involve yourself, is a waste of time. That does not mean do not care if others come to you with their problems, listen and give your best advice while always staying neutral. When you get involved, things never turn out the way you wish them too. My best advice, is to stay out of others' petty personal problems. Of course, this does not include situations where right and wrong is being questioned. In those instances you should always firmly stand with the side which you believe is right.
One way to prevent yourself from being stressed is to stay very organized. Make yourself a schedule and keep it up to date. Constantly put things you need to remember on a To-Do list. The times we usually get stressed out in high school are for reasons that could have been avoided. When I get stressed out, it is usually because I have let myself believe that I can be in two places at once, but sadly, they have yet to invent that technology. Do not allow yourself to get behind or let your responsibilities become cluttered in your head. This is the best way to avoid stress in general.
Even the most organized people still get stressed unfortunately, and even if you follow my advice to avoid stress at all costs, it still may happen. It will happen. We are in high school, and stress in inevitable. Do your best to roll with the punches, just start laughing whenever you can, and look at the bright things in life. Never let stress get in the way of you being happy because I have yet to think of something that should be placed over you having a good day. 

Judging.

We all criticize others of doing it. We all do it ourselves. I believe that it is a natural occurrence that one must cautiously think about to refrain from the act. Why though? Why do we constantly judge others and compare ourselves to the ever-changing idea of "perfection" when we all know perfectly well that "perfection" does not exist? I ponder this question and also wonder why we all waste so much time in high school when we revolve everything around that idea. Do we just not know better?

In the blog Jade's Declassified School Survival Guide, there is a post on "Insecurities".(http://jadeirish.blogspot.com/2015/09/insecurities.html?m=1) This post poses the perfect question, "Why are we all insecure?". My answer to that is that we are all worried of others judging. We are worried about others doing the exact same thing we do to them. In my opinion, this prevents people from allowing their true personalities to shine, burying them deep in a shell of assimilation where no light comes through. I have heard people say college is the time where people find themselves, and I think that makes high school a place where we are judged to the point of where we do not even know who we are. Which adds on to the list of things that make high school the painful experience it is. 

Another thing we all tend to do that goes hand in hand with judging is assuming. The best people are the ones who stop rumors in their tracks and confront the person whom it is about. Every situation is only awkward if you allow it to be, and most likely the person will truly appreciate you asking. Sometimes, our closest friends are not able to ask us whether something said was true. Do not be that person. It is really aggravating knowing that no one is sticking up for you and people tend to do to you, what you do to them, therefore making it a win-win. Also, when you do discover what people say about you, and it is maybe not a great thing, just start laughing because irrelevant people attempt to drag people to their level to make them feel better about themselves. Those are the people whom we all have to be the very nicest to. 

I have also mentioned before the concept of sensitivity, this is relevant when speaking of judging because we all do need to not care what others think. As chichè as it sounds, it is one maturity point you will hopefully achieve during your years at high school. Now, I do tend to bag on high school a lot, not all of the experiences have been the most pleasant for me, and this blog attempts to aid other in avoiding those situations. However, if you make a conscious effort to not judge others, attempt not to assume things, be up front with people, and try to not care what others think, high school will be great! It's a long, difficult list to complete, barely possible, but achievable. 

Organization.

Two AP classes, three varsity sports, speech, drama, and a job. At the beginning of the year, I also had another job on top of all that, so one could say I have some experience scheduling. During the summer, with two jobs that always conflicted, stressful did not even begin to describe the situations it had put me under. Even with a detailed planner and a color coordinated calendar, stressed-induced stomach pains filled a couple of weeks of my summer. Now know that this is not an argument against being involved, that is the complete opposite of what I would advise. The two jobs is the one thing that got me into trouble, so if you gain any knowledge from this post, do not get two jobs in high school, it is not worth it. And back to being involved, get into as many things you can without overwhelming yourself. There are so many opportunities in high school, search for every one that interests you. The busier you are, the more organized and focused you have to be. The more free time you have, the more time you have to slack off. Being in so many activities, the responsibilities that I have placed upon myself, in my opinion, has better prepared me to face what ever obstacles life has to throw at me.
On to how I possibly fit everything into a 24-hour period. First, prioritizing is key. School should obviously come first, so make sure to plan times to get homework and studying in, because with as busy of a schedule as mine, the snowball effect becomes twice the size of the avalanche. Having a color coordinated calendar and a planner is also a necessity. If I was not able to write everything down, my days would spiral out of control. Here is a tip, every time you tell yourself, "Oh, I will just remember it." JUST START LAUGHING and pick up a pen. Even if you do remember everything, it always helps me get through the day when I can cross things off my list because I know when I am done I can get to what is the most important part of my day, sleeping. Make sure you schedule that in with all the other things, some of the best days I have are the ones that I know that I am getting more sleep than usual. Now, I have mentioned my color coordinated calendar multiple times, and I hope you have realized its importance to me. Now color coordinating works very will for me, the bright colors makes the long days a little brighter, but if it does not work for you, I will not be offended.
From one busy bee to the next, good luck with your future endeavors, make time for yourself, and know that it is possible to be extraordinarily busy and still enjoy ever moment of your high school career.
JSL

Seniority.

Seniority is something you need to respect. The only time it becomes a problem is when underclassmen start to step over their boundaries. In middle school, when sitting on the bus, I used to always get so frustrated when the older kids would make such a big deal about the back of the bus. We were all going to the same place, what was the big deal? This was the big deal, they needed to feel bigger, they wanted to have power over the little kids. Now in high school it gets better, it is not as big of a deal because people start taking classes together and the maturity levels grow to be on the same plane. However, seniority  is still a big deal to people, especially in football games and in drama and other things. This is my best advice when it comes to that, if you make the most of wherever you get to sit, and be humble about positions or places you get over an upperclassmen. Here are some other pleasant gestures you could do for upperclassmen:
Give up your seat for them at sporting events
-Cheer loud for every team (this is one of the seniors largest pet peeves)
-Congratulate everyone in everything they do (people deserve the credit for all the work they have done)
-Know that you will soon be the ones who sit in the front
You will get older, give it time.
Now being an underclassmen once before, I understand the frustrations that come along with the idea of "seniority". Even as someone who supposedly one who has the power over underclassmen. This  is not a power I use often, or at all really, but I appreciate when it is acknowledged. But as I said because I have been an underclassmen, as an upperclassmen, I do my best to treat underclassmen just like anyone else, as long and they know that I may be a bit older and wiser than they are. It has been working for me so far, so keep that in mind when you discover how agitating the underclassmen can be. Rather than being meaner than is necessary when you get to your reign of power, remember you were once in their place too.
JSL
  

Salt.

While baking, most of the time the recipes are very exact. However, when someone is telling you their own recipe, especially grandmas, the get a little lazy with the exact measurements. Although a "pinch of salt" is not completely accurate, you know well enough to not dump a whole handful in. If you did allow too much salt to infiltrate your batter or dough, your end product will not be appealing or as scrumptious as it should be. However, some recipes call for salt. It is neccisary to put in to complete it, and that is how you should treat your days, a little salt is okay, but not too much. Another thing that is very important to pay attention too when it comes to baking is paying attention to how long you keep the goodies in the oven. In order for the the treats to taste just right, they have to be baked the right amount. The best chocolate chip cookies are the ones that are completely done, but not "done" too much that they become hard or burnt. When something is too "done", it does not taste very well. 

Being "salty" is a slang reference that o have no clue where it started, but I for one use it all the time. When someone stares that they are "salty" they could be peeved, rubbed the wrong way, upset, frustrated, or just done. Being "done" means almost the same thing. However, this slang term takes a more literal meaning and is typically used when you are finished dealing with a situation you are presented with.

 When a teacher gives you a bad grade on something you worked hard on.

Salty.

 When someone is spreading false rumors about you.

So done.

When you thought it was Friday but it is only Thursday.

Salt.

When you are running late for school in the morning and then you cannot find a parking spot.

Just done with the day. 

Now because I do not aim to be a hypocrite, I have to defend my case for my reasoning as to why I say these things so much. When I state that I'm "salty" about something, or I'm just "so done" it usually is me referring to a small situation that I felt people around me needed to know my opinion on it and then it does not bother me after that. I consider myself a overall happy person so little things that I make those comments on do not usually ruin my whole day. Others, on the other hand, let their salt consume them, or they forget to take the literal meaning of being "done" and allow it to drag on the rest of their day. 

Do not do that.

Do not let those things consume you. Allow it to happen, then move on with your day. We all have bad days but I feel as if people in high school like to dwell on them. They like to tell everyone about what terrible day they are having, rather than trying to forget about it and allow it to become a good day. I have had a lot of bad days, and I cannot wait to get out of high school, but I do not let that change my overall happiness. So you suould not either.

It is okay to add just a pinch of salt, or allow your cookies to be just the right amount of being done, but be careful when you bake. I consider myself to be a proffesional baker, one time I made home made brownies and this kid wanted to propose to me right then and there, (Joking obviously) but my rainbow cupcakes are certainly something to beat. Plus, it's easier to just start laughing when you have a house full of perfectly made goodies than if you have a messy kitchen with salty cookies and the fire alarm going off in the back round.