Adrenaline woke me up at five AM on my first day of high school. I was unable to go back to sleep or eat breakfast out of sheer excitement for what DHS would bring me. Fast forward three years to my first day of senior year. I barely rolled out of bed (and my house) by seven in the morning in order to beat the ever worsening traffic I’d been battling to no avail since 2014.

I’ve seen and been through a lot over the last three years at Dublin High, and I’m sure any senior can say the same. As such, it is my class duty to impart the wisdom on the new set of freshmen that I wish I had received when I was a naive little 14 year old running around in my red class shirt. Here’s my list of do’s and don’ts for freshman year (and high school in general).

DO get involved in clubs and activities now. This is the one thing I wish I obeyed more my freshman year. It seems like such a simple and constant piece of advice, but it cannot be overstated. The more you become active in your community now, the richer of an experience you will have at DHS and in Dublin as a whole, not to mention the more you will have to brag about in college apps. Which brings me to my next piece of advice…

DO start thinking about colleges now, but DON’T get too caught up in them. It’s good to have some idea about what you may want to explore in the future, but it most likely will change fifty times over as you progress through high school (and college as well). Try and stay ahead of the game, but remember to relax and have a fun freshman year. You should do some research on schools and fields of study as well as plan your four year class schedule, but leave the total mania for your upperclassman years.

DO befriend upperclassmen, if you have the opportunity. Most of us love taking naive little freshmen under our wings because we remember exactly what it felt like to be you on such a huge campus. And if we’re feeling mega extra nice that day, sometimes we’ll buy you food when we go off for lunch and it’ll make your day.

DON’T overload yourself with classes that are too difficult or that you don’t enjoy. If you don’t totally love that biomed or engineering class, it’s okay to not take what you know you don’t have any interest in. I’m a firm believer in giving them a try, but if it for sure isn’t your thing, then don’t waste a year of hatred on a course you knew you’d hate when you signed up for it. Of course, you naturally won’t like some of your classes for various reasons; it’s still important to keep your own happiness in place of an extra honors or AP class that you couldn’t care less about. At the end of the day, it’s only important that you…

DO enjoy yourself. It’s freshman year. It’s your adjusting period to high school that you can use however you want – whether it’s preparing for rigorous course load or investing time in clubs and sports, remember to have fun! Go to school events and give them a try – even if sports aren’t your thing or you couldn’t care less about the homecoming dance, seize every opportunity handed to you. At Dublin High, those opportunities abound, and it is up to you to take them and make them work for you – if you allow yourself, you’ll find amazing communities and create timeless memories for years to come, long after you step foot on campus for the last time.