Don't Be Nervous About High School

That time of year has come again. The leaves are changing colour, your parents are rushing you to the office supplies store, and you're spending sleepless nights worrying about the next school year.

You know that it's going to be your first year of high school; your parents have said that high school is different from "grade school". Your parents say that high school demands more "discipline", "initiative", and "hard work". According to them, without these qualities of self-motivation, you are destined for failure.

Fortunately for our sake, they are wrong. Everything about hard work and perseverance forming the basis of high school education is wrong. Everything about the good student who always does his homework, stays up extra late to finish assignments, and never swears is wrong. Your parents, and other adults, are telling you nothing more than fanciful lies which, although have good intentions, destroy the true meaning of high school.

In reality, high schools treat their students less like pupils in a class and more like a group of individuals who are there to learn, from the teacher, and from one another. In many ways, a high school environment requires less discipline to succeed. A friendless nerd who stays up all-night studying for the final exam may get high grades but he cannot be considered successful in high school.

To be successful in a high school environment, you must put more emphasis on the community aspect of a school. Instead of focusing all your time on math, science, and all the other academic subjects, make sure that you join plenty of clubs, make plenty of friends, and have fun.

A high school is not a learning institution as much as it is a community-driven centre for the absorption of knowledge. In high school, popularity and networking are just as, if not more important, than academics. High school is not some dull place where you sit for seven hours straight and listen to teachers babble. Instead it is a place where you are encouraged to form alliances with other students and learn off one another.

So, don't be nervous about high school and take any negativity you receive with a grain of salt. This school year, you can succeed, you will succeed, because 80% of your mark will be based on how well you network yourself within the community.

Dustin G. Hsiao was born on August 5th, 1990 and is the author of "Stupid Kid: Learn from Matt and Luke; how you can get better grades without effort". He has been recognized as one of the most promising young authors of modern English. He currently resides in Canada within the city of Toronto where he continues to write on unusual topics.

Dustin's ebook, Stupid Kid, is the perfect back to school gift for any struggling high school student and can be purchased online at: http://www.bettermarksnow.com/

Help Kids Show Kindness to Others

Many of our kids' attitudes and ideas are influenced by what they see and learn in school, whether public, private or home schools. Learning how to help others and how they can make a difference in the world can only benefit them and our communities.

But how do you teach about helping others and show kids how to make a difference? Actually, it's quite easy - use one or more of the following five kindness motivation tips from the E-book, 101 Ways Your School Can Change the World.

These kindness motivation tips can help instill children with a life-long commitment to treating others with kindness. Imagine their joy as they learn they have the power to make a difference in someone's world!

1. Develop a mentoring program of students and for students using older students as models for the younger ones.

* You can also use adults in the community to mentor students in any age group.
* This is a terrific way to make a difference by involving students and mentors in learning activities.

2. Invite classrooms and organizations within the school to help sponsor fall and spring cleanup days for all citizens with a special emphasis on the elderly in the community. TogetherWeCanChangetheWorldDay provides a fr*ee service where you can list your project to get more volunteers or to search for projects in your area. Visit www.TogetherWeCanChangeTheWorldDay.com

3. Invite students, parents and personnel to volunteer to help community members develop and maintain small garden plots. This idea could be expanded to help provide fresh produce for Food Pantries in your community.

4. Encourage senior citizens, parents and grandparents to volunteer for projects and programs.

* Create a list of needs and conduct an Open House at a community Senior Citizen Center or PTA.
* Explain how volunteers can help make a difference:
Storytelling
Listening to groups read
Reading stories
Tutoring, etc.
The list goes on and on.

5. Use the holidays to help families, but 'extend the giving'.

* Keep food bins in your room to collect food for 2 families.
* Once every couple of weeks, take the food to them.
* If the families are hungry at the holidays, they are going to be hungry year round.
* If each classroom or home school adopts 2 families, student's ongoing giving can really make a difference throughout the entire community!

The best part of using these kindness motivation tips is teaching youngsters and teens the value of kindness and how each person can make a difference to others. They'll also be changing the world at the same time. What a tremendous lesson for them to learn early!

Author Ginny Dye shares how practical acts of kindness can make a difference in our world. Get all 101 tips on how you can make a difference by going to http://www.101WaysSeries.com and request "101 Ways to Change the World".