With the coming end of the 2021-2022 school year, everyone will soon rush to be eased into their incoming grade level. Sometimes, advice may be the key to finding comfort in new environments; however, it is hard to come across good words of advice. 

Worry not, fellow Aviator, for Newspaper has compiled advice for rising and incoming students. Even better, the words come from fellow students! Here are some pieces of advice that Aviators have given for YOU!! 

What is something you wish you did while at HMSA?

• I really wish I attended more tutoring and thought of the right questions to ask rather than feel guilty for holding everyone back.
• Meet a lot of new friends
• I wish I took dual enrollment classes at El Camino.
• I wish I socialized more. I’m not lonely, but I just wish I communicated more with others and didn’t let potential friendships get away. 
• I wish that I applied for AP World History
• I wish I could attend all of my after school meetings.
• More volunteer work/making more friends. Also discovering myself, it only took me till junior year to understand my worth, and I wish I did sooner.
• I wish I would have asked more questions when I needed help so my grade won’t have been affected so much.
• I wish that I could’ve gone to ask for help in class if needed though, but it’s important to ask for help so that you can understand the lesson the teacher taught you.
• I wish I paid attention in Math class
• I wish I made more friends and talked to my teachers when I needed help.
• One thing at a time – you do not need to lead everything or help everyone, you get to be selfish sometimes.
• Join into many clubs I can as early as I could
• Took more volunteer opportunities.

To make things short, your fellow aviators wish; ☆ they volunteered more, paid attention in class, asked for help from teachers, made more friends, applied for more school opportunities, joined/ attended more clubs, and took more time on things.

What is something you wish you didn’t do?

• • I wish that I never gave up.
  • Disappoint my teachers.
  • Academic dishonesty (I learned a lot, but not worth it).
  • Slept during English class.
  • I wish I was more picky with my friend groups
  • PROCRASTINATE.
  • I wish I didn’t ignore the offers for help on certain materials
  • I wish I didn’t wait until the last minute to care about my grades. I wasn’t really trying that hard in the first semester and you can really see it in my grades. In the second semester, however, I am trying way harder and putting in more effort.
  • I wish that I didn’t fall behind on my work
  • Tell Mr. Highducheck I’m from San Pedro
  • Get in trouble.

To make things short, your fellow aviators regretted:☆ Procrastinating, lying, sleeping during class, making the wrong friends, not asking for help, and telling Mr. Highducheck they’re from San Pedro.

Advice for future Freshmen

• Start developing the habit of studying. You will need it! 
• Do your work on time because I’ve had many late nights staying up. Do it the day it’s assigned.
• Try [to] be considerate of your fellow peers walking up and down stairs; don’t hold up the line of oncoming students!
• Please work for yourself, not others. You may feel an urge to pursue things because of your friends/family/societal pressures, but do what’s best for YOUR needs. 
• High school is NOT middle school. This is the year where you have to actually focus and turn in your homework and assignments on time. It’s important to also be on time so you can be ready to learn in class so you can understand the lesson. 
• Try not to fall asleep in Ms. Sigler’s class because you will miss out on a lot of important details that can be crucial to your grades. 
• Don’t procrastinate and always pay attention
• …Don’t let [homework] pile up on you, otherwise you will regret it. 
• Join as many clubs as you can! One every day! (the ones you like of course) because it’s only an hour, it’s fun, and it looks good on college applications to have many extracurriculars. 
• Don’t be shy to talk to new people, and take new opportunities! 
• When Siegler gives you an essay to do and there’s tutoring, don’t wait till the last minute to get help because everyone else will be doing that too.
• Do your work on time because I’ve had many late nights staying up. Do it the day it’s assigned.
• Try to be considerate of your fellow peers walking up and down stairs; don’t hold up the line of oncoming students!
• Don’t fall back in your class assignments and study all the notes you get every day when there’s a lecture.
• Advice I would give to incoming freshmen is to not stress so much because that stress can lead to wrong paths or choices.
• Join as many clubs as possible — it’s better to join many (and then later drop the ones you don’t like) then to not join at all.
• Do not wait until the last minute to get work done. You’re gonna hear this a lot but trust me when I say this advice is really helpful.
• Do your assignments the day it is due.
• There is no need to worry. This school isn’t an ocean, it’s a puddle.
• Get your assignments over with, especially when you just got them!

To make things short, Freshmen: ☆ Try to join clubs, do your homework the day it’s assigned, be considerate of others when going on the stairs, start caring about your grades and do your best :). 

Advice for future sophomores

• Take Honors English since it can’t hurt your GPA and can only help, and consider taking AP World History if you fancy that.
• Start looking for your interests, you’ll be surprised what classes may spark interest.
• Put in all your efforts and make sure to be completing the work.
• Don’t be afraid to take AP classes — at least give them a try before deciding it’s too hard.
• Be better than how you were as a freshman
• Don’t let old assignments pile up into in an insurmountable scale
• Work hard since this GPA actually matters, and take APs
• Try to participate in as many clubs as you want to.
• Don’t do an AP or Honors class if you aren’t ready for loads of work in those classes. Also don’t get on Mr. Atanga’s bad side.
• If Mr. Atanga is still teaching next year, I know we drove him crazy, but give him a chance. He might come across as mean but he’s just doing his job that he cares about a lot. He’s pretty funny. Everyone else you should find it easy to like.
• Start to join extracurricular activities, even if you are the only person in your friend group – it is okay to stand alone if you are showing self-growth in collaboration and leadership.
• Take the time to start looking at different colleges to see what you like in a college. it’ll make things easier for you in the long run.

To make things short, Sophomores: ☆ Start looking into honors and AP classes, try to look into extracurriculars that may interest you, start briefly looking into colleges, and be nice to Atanga.

Advice to future Juniors

• AVOID PLAGIARISM (your teachers will not mess around if you attempt to be funny) and most importantly, grow fond of them; they’re quite nice when you get to meet them.
• Seriously, start looking at your interests. Teachers may force the need to know your interests now, but find subjects that make you happy (at your own pace). Ignore people’s perception of yourself and strive for your needs.
• Build student teacher connections !!!
• Don’t get discouraged by the workload, take it one step at a time! You’re almost there!
• Start filling out scholarship applications early, maybe during the summer or something.
• Be prepared for all the math and physics that comes your way.
• This is the year where you’re going to have to focus up a bit more. Try to set aside more time for studying but still have a good amount of leisure time. Find the right balance while trying a bit harder.
• Start applying to scholarships as soon as possible!
• Don’t mention to Mr. Highducheck that you’re from San Pedro

To make things short, Juniors: ☆ Be ready for the classes you will be taking (the math gets tricky), look into scholarships and colleges, build good connections with your teachers, look into your interests, and under ANY circumstances never tell Highducheck you’re from San Pedro.

Advice for future seniors

• Remember your roots, we all know staying in one place for four years feels dragging after a while but HMSA built you a home – do something for, with, and while on campus that you can be proud of later on.
• Make time to complete your college essays and ask for letters of recommendation as early as possible.
• Don’t feel bad if you don’t get into a certain college; also, don’t stress too much about your future, nothing is set in stone and you still have loads of time to figure everything out 🙂
• Don’t procrastinate in applying for anything that has to do with college. Also, make sure you ask questions about every little thing you don’t want to mess anything required for college

To make things short, Seniors: ☆ Remember where you came from, don’t procrastinate when it comes to college admissions, and don’t stress too much if things don’t exactly go as planned for college. 

Advice for all students

• Make good use of your resources and don’t try to put more on your plate than is required; that is to say, don’t try and make yourself full of a broader variety of skills: diversity and uniqueness is heavily encouraged.
• Don’t be pulled into something you don’t want to do because of peer pressure. Remember popularity isn’t everything.
• Don’t let anything get in your way. Keep studying and working hard!
• Discover yourself. Drop your old friends, apply to scholarships, apply to classes that don’t pertain to your major. You will feel much better committing than letting opportunities slide.
• Just try your best in every one of your classes. Turn in the work that is due before the day that is actually due. Make sure you’re on time in each of your classes. Always be prepared and ready to learn!
• Try your best and don’t give up.
• Don’t let others bring you down.
• Stop worrying about what other people think, seriously. If you want to do something, do it. The only way people can put you down is if you let them.
• Lead in a way that makes others want to fight for a cause with you.
• Don’t be afraid to try out in different clubs!
• Go to sleep early. We all know the reason you were up late was because you were on your phone, not because you were doing homework.
• Study, Study, Study.
• Enjoy the time you have left in school
• Don’t be afraid to try out new things and take on challenges.
• Don’t stress yourself out but know what you need to do and get it done.
• Try/challenge yourself to anything different or difficult you ´ ll have fun
• Don’t be loud near Mr. Jahnke’s room
• Always do your work because even if you fail an exam, the work you do will keep you at a passing grade.

To make things short, aviators: ✩ Try your best, do your work, challenge yourself, enjoy your time at hmsa and have fun!