Congratulations. You graduated middle school and have finally made it to the big time. High school. High school is a wonderful place filled with wonderful people and wonderful opportunities. But it also is a huge change from any other school experience you have ever had. You may not understand what to do in your classes or the hallways or at lunch but you will learn. Here is a few things you may find useful to know.

Hallways

You may not spend a huge amount of time in the hallways but if you deal with them wrong they can become a huge hassle. First of all, walk on the right side. It’s like driving a car (the things your parents drive). Always on the right. Never into oncoming traffic. It will make your life so much easier. In addition to this, never form big groups to talk to your friends in the middle of the hallway. You will have upperclassmen bowl through you. It will hurt. Watch out.

Classes

These are “The reason you come to school” and “Your job.” Since there are so many other activities to do in high school, you may be tempted to slack off on your grades so as to participate in other activities. Trust me, this is a terrible, awful, no good, very bad idea. Especially if your parents have their Zangle password. They will find out and they will not be happy. Do your homework. Pay attention. Sooner or later you will graduate and have to choose what you want to do in college and if you don’t like any school subjects, you’re going to have a bad time.

Food

School food isn’t the best. Actually, most of it is pretty bad. You guys have it worse. You missed out on the glory days of the yesteryears. Cinnamon Rolls and Pop-Tarts and Cup O’ Noodle and all kinds of goodies used to be available for purchase. Now what do we have? Celery and Carrots. Nobody likes healthy food. Sneak some unhealthy snacks into your backpack for when you have teachers that like to let you eat in class. (Side Note: Bring a pack of gum to school. You will never have more friends than you do when you pull out a full pack of gum.)

Sports

Rio is in no way known for sports. We have good water polo, swimming and girls soccer teams, but football and basketball have not been the most successful in a while (Trust me, I know). And while that huge loss to Rosemont in the second week of the football season may be demoralizing, you should still go to the games. Not even to watch. You will enjoy it. I guarantee it. And who knows? Maybe you’ll see a win. Go out and support the sports. As many as possible (Even cross-country.)

Clubs

While rush week hasn’t happened yet, you will soon see that there is a club for pretty much everything. And you should probably sign up for all of them. From the Democrats to the Republicans to the Picnickers to the Bad Girls to the Twerkers, there is a club for everyone. And if there isn’t one for you, make your own. Clubs can be a way to make friends if you come from a different district and don’t have too many friends. Plus at the end of the year you get to leave class for club pictures. That’s always a plus.

Random Advice

Sometimes Junior hall floods when it rains especially hard. Watch out. No one likes wet shoes. Say you happen to be walking across the quad when no one is around, if you stand in the middle of the circle in front of the stage and yodel there’s a pretty awesome echo. I’d be an irresponsible writer if I told you to leave class for this however. So don’t. Books are extremely expensive. Don’t lose them. Or let them get stolen. The two events are treated the same by the school and it costs a shiny penny to replace them. Senior bathroom is literally always closed. Don’t even try. Watch out for Trenton Sidener