Has My Slacking Off in High School Ruined My Life?

Question

All throughout high school, I have barely done anything with myself. I go to a top-20 high school and the average GPA of my whole time there is around a 3.00. I am a senior, and I am just now taking an AP Biology class. Four school days a week, I work in a dental office (and I have for two years), I take Financial Services on Saturdays from 9:00am to 1:00 pm and then I go to my other job where I organize the office from about 2:00 to 6:00 (and I also spend another four hours working there on Mondays). But I feel like I'm not doing enough. I'm always busy, but I feel like a really lazy student, compared to SOPHOMORES taking like 4 or 5 APs and 5 extracurriculars. Even though I've pretty much been really lazy throughout high school, can I still be successful in life with any career if I focus more in college?

Answer 1

That's not lazy. Lazy is dragging yourself to class to scrape by with a 2.25 GPA and playing Super Smash Brothers on your down time.

Anything can be achieved with focus and dedication, but don't be too determined about it.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

Answer 2

First off, I don't think it would be beneficial or healthy for you to compare yourself to others. It's never too late to make a positive change -- the only thing that can stop that from happening is your belief that it is too late, which isn't true. If you want to make your transcript look more appealing to colleges, I would suggest that you get involved in your school's activities. You say you go to a top high school -- if that's the case, the h.s should provide many clubs and sports. Join several clubs that you have an interest in. DON'T join a club if you're doing it just for the sake of making it look good on your transcript. It should be something you enjoy, because what's the point of even doing it if you're just dragging through it? Yes, it wwould look good to the college, but if you're not enjoying it, or gaining any wisdom or useful experiences, then it's pointless. You'll only be doing it to impress the college, which is what a lot of students in middle/high school do to fit in. That's exactly why you can't follow others in terms of...well, pretty much anything. But that's another topic.

If you think you could do better if you were less busy, then I would suggest you to drop some of the jobs you're doing. You say you feel like you're being lazy -- that's probably because A: you're not feeling satisfied with how you're living your life and where you're dedicating your time/effort to, or B: you know you can do better but you're not.

Again, you shouldn't compare yourself to the success of others because you will make accomplishments in what you feel is important to you. What's important to you is usually what you can excel at, if you give forth the expected and beyond expected efffort/time, and because it's something you enjoy doing, you should be able to do that easily.

Whether you are successful or not depends solely on your attitude and perception of life. In order to understand that, you need to know your values by heart, and if someone were to approach you and ask what your values are, you should be able to say what they are and extensively explain why they're your values.

Lastly, I just want to say this. Whatever you want to do, whatever changes you want to make, do it. And do it now. Don't procrastinate, don't hesitate, just dominate. It's like what my favorite social studies teacher has been telling me lately, "Just do it."

Answer 3

Absolutely. You probably aren't going to get into Harvard, but I'm sure you can be accepted to a very good school, especially with the work experience you have. When you apply for a job, no one is going to look at your high school transcript, just your college one. Take the SAT's seriously and work hard in college and high school won't matter one bit. Kudos to you on the 3.0 gpa, ap class, and all of the work experience.