My High School Freshmen Year Was My First Taste Of Responsible Adulthood

My freshmen year was the year I studied the hardest. I spent more hours learning. I spent more hours practicing. I spent more hours exercising at home. I spent less hours watching television. I used flash cards to learn French vocabulary. I drilled my R.O.T.C. general orders and ranks. The hard work paid off with good grades. I felt smart. I felt strong.

On the other hand, I failed the state's basic writing standards exam. My mom purchased two books to improve my English and my writing skills. I read the books. I studied. I practiced. I passed the exam in my sophomore year.

My adulthood was established. Hard work. Motivation. Focus. Strength. Intelligence. What about fun? The fun happened afterwards. I accepted the process. I accepted the challenge.

Summer Vacation Ruined Everything

My summer vacation after freshmen year was too much fun. I watched too much television. I took the adulthood lesson for granted. I thought I remember everything. I wasn't going down. The opposite happened. I forgot everything I learned. Use it or lose it. I lost it. I didn't exercise. I didn't refresh my French. It was harder without my French textbook; however, I did have my lecture notes and flash cards. My parents were partially responsible because they never encouraged me to continue getting stronger and learning more. They didn't look after me.

Today's high school students can study during the summer because of the internet; in particular, tutorial videos on YouTube, Wikipedia, books in .pdf, and websites posting learning materials.

High School Was Different Thereafter

I experienced a non-typical high school thereafter. There was one French II class instead of two classes due to budget cuts in my sophomore year. French II was overcrowded. I couldn't take R.O.T.C. because the class conflicted with French II. The district announced two high schools closed permanently due to budget cuts in my junior year. My teachers didn't care. Homework was reduced. Teaching was relaxed. Tests were easier. I graduated at another high school in my senior year. Students and faculty didn't care about the multiple schools merged. I struggled in my classes during my senior year. I could have studied smarter. I still earned A's and B's.

Freshmen Year Didn't Count

Freshmen year in a college candidate's application was excluded. I'm not sure the rules apply to today's high school students. It's ironic I didn't need a warm-up year. I was prepared in terms of motivation for college.

My freshmen year I was motivated to be a mature adult. I lost the motivation during my first high school summer vacation. The motivation came back decades later.

Side note: One of the two high schools closed permanently reopened five years later due to higher student enrollment. The school opened with freshmen and sophomores only.