Freaking Out About Change

Dear Dee:
I am so scared about going into high school. Last year, in junior high, the 9th graders ruled the school and now, I am going back to being the youngest on campus again. It really is difficult going from ‘everything' to ‘nothing' in the course of a summer. Any ideas on how to survive this?

Being the youngest in school doesn't mean you have to be the punching bag on campus. It just means you have to prove you don't deserve to be looked on that way. For some silly reason, for as long as school's been in existence, the younger kids get the grief. And the older kids cause it. It's a vicious cycle but one that always exists.

What you have to do is break out of that 9th-grade shell and show why you deserve better. The one way you can do this? Don't act scared. Don't worry about high school and just go with the flow. You're going into the 10th grade with tons of other kids. You're not alone. So walk in that first day with the anxiety tucked quietly away somewhere and determine that you're going to have fun, make some friends (I am assuming you're moving to the new school with tons of friends anyway) and make the most of it. Don't pay attention to the stigma that comes along with being the youngest on campus. Work on your rep as if you were starting over -- because you are. Establish yourself now and build upon it in upcoming years. And just be yourself!

In a few years when you rule the school again, you'll look back and see how well you sailed through it ... and maybe, you'll remember how you felt that first day, and remember not to make it so hard on those NEW 10th graders ... because you were there once, too.