9TH GRADE

Incoming 9th Graders—Summer:

The summer before high school is a special one. It’s one of the last summers where you can spend your time freely—without academic pressures or expectations. Take advantage of this! Spend time with your friends and start experimenting with your personal interests and hobbies. If you’re not sure where to begin, take a look at this:

— Summer 101: Exploring Your Interests

At the same time, this is also a good time to begin laying the groundwork for high school. Discuss with your parents to plan out which courses you’re interested in taking, and think holistically about what you want to learn and how these courses might build upon existing interests. Practice setting goals for each semester, whether they are academic, personal, or extracurricular.

While it may feel early, this is the perfect time to start developing key life skills like time management, organization, and effective communication. These will not only help you excel in high school, but also carry further into college and beyond. One way to begin practicing these skills, building confidence, and exploring something meaningful to you is through a personal passion project that grows and develops alongside you through high school—reach out to Path Mentors to see how they might be able to help you with this.

9th Graders—Fall: 

Welcome to your first semester of high school! This is a period of uncertainty and excitement—with new classes, new people, and new routines. If you feel at all overwhelmed, just know that it is completely normal. 

Lean into the uncertainty by grounding yourself in good habits: learn to manage your time effectively and try out different note-taking strategies to stay organized. Your first year of high school is also the perfect time to try something new. Within the spectrum of clubs, sports, and community service organizations—some may even provide opportunities to travel and meet students from different schools. Don’t stress about optimizing your activities for college applications. You aren’t expected to have everything figured out yet, so embrace the uncertainty and experiment. Focus on discovering your strengths, passions, and skills. Strengthen old friendships and make new ones. If you’re having a difficult time adjusting to the new environment, consider a club or organization that also has a strong social scene and use that as a base to build upon.

Feel like you have a good handle on high school? If you are in search of a challenge—look at exploring early summer programs for 9th grade students to gain insights into new fields of interests, or try your hand at submitting something you’ve researched or made to a local competition. 

9th Grade—Spring

You’ve made it halfway through your first year of high school! Hopefully you’ve had a chance over winter break to reflect on the fall semester. What went well? What could have been better? This is a great time to update your goals—whether they are academic, personal, or extracurricular. If you feel like you still haven’t adjusted to your new school environment—that’s ok. These processes can take time and it’s normal if things still feel like they haven’t completely settled. Reach out to friends, families, counselors, and teachers if you need additional support.

If your grades are in a good place, consider challenging yourself with more advanced classes next year. You might also want to take a look at applying early to a summer program or local internship. But remember, high school is an incredibly important time for your body and brain to grow and develop. Getting enough sleep is just as important as turning in assignments. Make sure your time management skills are just as honed as your grades, and don’t neglect good organization and communication! 

If you haven’t already, make an effort to explore what your school and community have to offer. Whether it is a club, music program, school sport, or volunteering organization—these activities can help you expand your scope of knowledge and experiences, building a stronger sense of self and community to support you through these next four years. Don’t neglect your hobbies either—not everything can be found through academics and sometimes what you need can only be found in the depths of a good book, or through diving into the rabbit hole of a personal project. 

If you haven’t already, it’s time to start thinking about how to spend your first summer of high school. There are so many ways to learn and grow; if you need help, a good place to start is our blog post on how to explore your interests. Need help discovering what excites you? Reach out to Path Mentors to learn how Project-Based Mentoring can help you develop your interests.