There’s a whole new generation of ninth graders coming into Hickory each year. We’ve all learned the ways of Hickory High School before, now it’s your turn. Starting off with hallway activity, many students tend to walk very slowly from class to class. This can be a problem when the hallway is packed and you’re only given five minutes to get to the next class. So instead of walking 0.5 miles an hour, stick to your side of the hallway and walk at at least an average speed. On top of that, if you have more than two friends walking with you, have some of them walk directly behind or in front of you. Otherwise, you’re practically taking up the entire hallway space, therefore inconveniencing other students and preventing them from being able to walk. Moving forward, many of you don’t really have a grasp of what you’re supposed to do in high school. It’s perfectly fine to not know your exact path yet, you just got here and are still figuring out what to do; but you shouldn’t aim to be the type of student who sits there being intentionally loud, drawing attention from the others doing their assignments. This both builds a level of immaturity and intolerance towards yourself from other students. If you don’t know how to do your assignment, that’s alright. You can ask your teacher for help, or you can find something else to do in your own time. However, you don’t want to prevent others from doing their work and harm their work ethic. Now let’s say you have a goal you’d like to accomplish but don’t know the steps you need to take. You should really lean on upperclassmen to help you figure out what steps you should take, as they’ve been in your shoes before, and can more than likely give you advice on what to do and what not to do. Many upperclassmen would be more than happy to give you advice on working towards your goal and steer you away from repeating their own personal mistakes. Don’t be afraid of high school, own your spot and do what you need to do for your own future.