Term 1-It's over!

This term went by so fast. I can't believe half of first semester is gone. When you're in ninth grade, you feel like you're always waiting and getting ready for next year. The counselors are already telling you to set up appointments with them so you can make good decisions for high school. You want to do well in your classes because now they actually count towards your future. If you did well before, then it was because you were an overachiever. You worry about having enough time to be with your friends, because you know that you'll hardly ever see them again after this year when you're at different schools. By now, you have a pretty good idea of what you like and you vaguely know what you want to do when you grow up. It's all different from the earlier grades.

When you were in elementary school, or even seventh or eighth grade, high school seemed far away. It barely even seemed like it was going to happen. Now, everyone keeps asking each other which school they're going to. The conversation goes something like this: "Where are you going next year? ...... What? Why?!....... Well you should go to ... instead!" Even if you really like one school, do you really want to go there if your best friend is going somewhere else?

There's also something about being in ninth grade where you feel really mature....and really immature at the same time. More like you feel mature, but in reality you're actually pretty immature. Maybe it's because you're still in the same school as the seventh and eighth graders. At the moment you feel like the oldest and the most experienced, but you know that in just a year it will be like being a sevvie again. Once again you'll be in a totally new environment with tons of new people. Some of the people you've been with for 3+ years will be there with you, but others will be somewhere completely different having completely different experiences.

The counselors are always making you take those stupid quizzes to find out what jobs you would be good at, or what kind of a person you are. They keep saying that you should figure it out now. But when you hear them say that, all you're thinking is, "Now? Me? I'm still a kid! I can figure that out later! None of this effects me right now." What you don't think is, "In 3 or 4 years I'll be figuring out which classes I want to take in college so I can get the job I'll be doing for a few decades. Maybe I should start thinking about this...." You just haven't gotten used to the idea that what you do now effects the rest of your life.

Not that if you fail ninth grade you'll be a hobo living in a cardboard box with some newspapers for the rest of your life. But if you think about things now, then it will be a lot easier. You'll have more options sooner than if you just go through high school without worrying about anything. You can get where you want to be faster. Even if studying and doing your homework seems too hard and pointless now, it's easier than trying to go back and fix your mistakes ten years from now.

Anyways, there's a random sample of some of the things going through my head right now. Ninth grade really isn't a totally serious thing like this post. It's actually a lot of fun-even if it's a lot harder than seventh and eighth grade. These are just the things I worry about. I don't want to be split up with half my friends next year. It's just a little scary how fast first term went. One minute I'm trying to get used to all the new classes, and the next it's all a routine and I'm just worrying about trying to finish all those assignments the teachers throw at you at the end of the term. Overall, I just want to try and enjoy myself and do the best I can for the rest of junior high before everything changes.