I guess this is kind of random…what is the hardest year in high school?? I’m going to be a sophomore in 4 1/2 months, and I’m hoping it’s almost as easy as freshmen year is thus far. If you have any happy, funny, morbid, or random memories of any grade, theyr’e welcome here, as well. My favorite year in middle school was 7th, because I discovered I love biology, had my first and only crush on a real person Iv’e ever had, and finally got used to school, all in one. BTW, I was homeschooled through 4th grade and skipped 5th, so 6th grade was nearly impossible. I got straight A’s in everything except math in 7th. 
Well, the traditional answer to that is junior year, due to the beginnings of college applications, but my answer would be the second half of junior year and the first half (or longer) of senior year. I’m a senior now, and by far making the hardest decisions I have ever had to make. Choosing where to spend my college years is…stressful, to say the least. In terms of coursework, it obviously depends on your classes, but it is most important to get high grades junior year and first semester senior year.
And also, it’s what you make of it. If you handle stress well or make decisions easily, or have great study habits, you might find yourself doing just fine all four years. Anyway, I wish you the best of luck as you continue through high school!
The system’s probably a bit different over here, but I guess the general answer would be the years that you have to take exams. The first three years of high school were lovely for myself and my friends, no pressure and no worrying, but the last two were very difficult because of all the exams we had to take in a relatively short amount of time.
But as Sarah said, it just depends on how well you deal with pressure and that sort of thing. I will say now though, that it doesn’t get any easier after high school (unfortunately). 
Thanks, guys. I like the input. 
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I don’t understand your system of sophomore freshpeople etc, why can’t you just use a grade/year system. I’d say it’s year 11 or year 13 for us.
WALL-E: I know what you mean! But to stop a confusion, here’s the equivalents:
-Freshman Year= Year 10
(the year I’m currently in)
-Sophomore= Year 11
-Junior= Year 12
-Senior= Year 13
Well, to put it bluntly, I hate high school.
70% of my classmates are jerks, and the other classes aren’t any better. To make it worse, we stopped having art class since last year. Booooo. I’m fourteen and second year in high school. Also, we have loads of homework and tests every week.
Darn you, high school musical, high school ISN’T fun! DARN YOU TO HECK!
Now, you’re not alone there Badger! I’m always up to my neck in Art homework, and English essays are a nightmare. They all take me, like, a whole day to complete!
I hate HSM anyway, but now I know it’s no where near as fun as I thought it would be, I despise it even more.
Well, I’ve been constantly ridiculed by those of us who don’t believe in special needs, so I know what you guys mean about jerks…
I never found any year particularly hard, but if any it would be Year 11 because there’s more work and revision comnpared to any other year, I don’t know what year that is in USA though, age 15-16
Dannng I miss high school 
, best time of my life so farrrrr it was so fun all the time, wish I stayed a kid forever.
Are you crazy? I can’t wait to get out of here! (And I’m not one of those small-town-people-who-steryotypically-want-to-leave!)
**
I’m going to go out on a limb and say Senior year because of college applications, although I think it should be Junior year because of the maintaining of grades and AP Exams along (atleast for us) the last year of State testing where moving on to 12th grade requires us to pass. Testing doesn’t really bother me, so I’m not worried about it. But I don’t like the idea of not knowing where to go, expenses of prospects, and if I made the right decision.
I’ll be honest here. High school was one of the darkest periods of my life, I truly hated it, and even recalling it brings back horrible memories. I apologize for the long post, but I have never shared this before, not even with my current friends (cos’ this has long been water under the bridge). But I want to share my story with you in the hopes that anyone who reads this will learn from my experience, and if you are the perpetrator, that you learn how your victims really feel.
Before I went to high school, I was very popular in elementary (or primary schools in Malaysia). I went to two, and I had no enemies, just many friends. Interestingly, I had a lot of female friends in my first primary (probably because I was helpless at sports and due to childhood innocence at the time).
I then went on to four different schools throughout my secondary school (the British equivalent of high school) life. This was not on any of my part, in fact I was one of the best students in my class for every one of them. It’s just due to my father’s work commitments (company mergers, being posted overseas, that sort of thing) that I switched so often. The constant changing of schools and classmates, added with my social awkwardness when it came to the teenage jungles of adolescence, made it a living hell for me.
My first ‘high school’ was in fact, in, a high school. It was an Indonesian international school that followed the American education system, one of those fancy schools for expatriates who can’t/don’t want to study in ‘local schools’. I won’t say its name (or any of the following schools I’m about to mention) because I don’t want to tarnish their names (the other students can do that for themselves), and I’m about to reveal some unsavoury aspects. Needless to say, it was my first experience of Western pop culture, and for someone who comes from a very conservative Asian background, it was very shocking. My classmates were 12 years old, yet they swore like adults, and treated me very condescendingly. I tried being friends with the girls, whereupon I first learnt of the term ‘cooties’. Then I tried hanging out with the boys, but when they saw how naive I was, they started to pick on me. This was not exclusive to the American or European students, but a couple of the Asian ones too, so I was treated ‘equally badly’ by everyone. There was one particular Korean bully (who I dubbed ‘Ketchup’ since his real name sounds like it) that gave me a hard time (even physically intimidating me), and our mums got into a row when mine confronted him for tormenting me.
Things didn’t improve when I went to a second international school in Singapore. This time, I encountered another jerk (a Chinese guy), and he even had cronies (a German jock and a Eurasian shortie). Although he did not physically attack me, his verbal abuses were enough to make me dread going to the same class as him. Again, this was because I was perhaps not ‘spunky’ enough to come up with witty comebacks or tell them not to push me around.
My third secondary school, this time a government one, was considerably better. It was a neighborhood school, so the kids there were not particularly the ‘studious’ type, but what they lacked in academic intelligence, they made up for in their honest earthiness. In a way, the international schools, with their polarising cliques and class system… none of that elitist crap was present in the government school, which had a more egalitarian ‘student politics’. There was another nasty, a fat one with glasses, who I despised, but later became friends with in second year once we found something in common to talk about (RPG games and Invader Zim). Sadly, I had to move again before I got to know him better. When my parents told the neighbourhood school’s principal they were transferring me to a better school (because they accepted me after a request), the principal said “I knew this was coming.” I was their star pupil (And I’m not being boastful, I swept almost all the ‘Best in Subject’ prizes except a few, and they had plans for me), and she was sad to see me go.
My final secondary school was back to the pits for me. It was a more ‘prestigious’ government school, but while I was the ‘one eyed man in the kindgom of the blind’ in my previous school, here I was a ‘nobody’. And again, the ugly segregationist clique system rears its head again. I became the target of another bully, and in some ways, he was as bad as the first. Again, he had two minions (a skinny Chinese and a stout Malay - strength in numbers, see?) and they taunted, punched my shoulder, and stomped on my schoolbag in lame displays of male bravado. Of course, I was wiser now, and I just tolerated all this torment in silence. My father thought I was just trying to ‘find enemies’, while my more symphatetic mum again tried to resolve the issue. This time she went to my headroom teacher instead, and despite repeated warnings, the bully continued his ways (except more subtly). The skinny Chinese guy did apologize to me after the teacher publicly hinted at him in class, and didn’t bother me after that, but I doubt he was sincere. By this time, I was better at making friends, and I seeked solace with a small group of fellow nerds during reccess and after school reading books and giving comments on their comic strips.
Since pre-university until now, I never encountered another bully again. Maybe it’s because I’ve learned to handle dishonourable punks, maybe it’s because I was being less of a wimp (but then why did I encounter a bully in every single one of my high schools, only to have none immediately afer?). Maybe the ‘Ketchups’ all grew up and stopped being immature creeps. I don’t know.
If I do meet ‘Ketchup’ again, I would probably forgive him for all the horrible days he gave me back then. Probably thank him for ‘toughening’ me up. But I would never forget.
This is why I always make it a point to be nice to others and stand up for the underdog, whether in real-life or on this forums. I do this, because I know how it feels to be made to feel little. To not enjoy your high-school life, but to dread facing that monster waiting for you at the back of the class. To have whatever dignity you have as a kid taken from you because you’re an easy target. I do this, because I know that the impact bullies leave on your life lasts longer than the bruises they leave on your shoulder.
I’m really sorry to hear that you had such a tough time of it at high school, thedriveintheatre. It must’ve been difficult having to change schools all the time, let alone being confronted by such horrible people. I’m glad things are better for you now though, and that you haven’t been bullied since. Sounds like the people at university are much more mature.
sorry to hear about your time in high school. Unfortunatly there are kids like that in every school, its a real shame.
Lizardgirl, in university people tend to be more tolerant and you don’t encounter bullies, but do not mistake this for maturity. If anything the level drops when you move away from home and copious ammounts of alcohol are drunk most nights a week.
This isn’t a bad thing though, uni has been the best time of my life and I’m very sorry to see it come to an end
Sorry about that, TDIT. Everyone thought I was an idiot, because I didn’t get their jokes. I was homeschooled through 4th grade, abd skipped 5th, so I have no social skills.Actually the lack of social skills comes from my Asperger’s, but having no contact with other kids doesn’t help. Middle school was hooooorrible, but HS isn’t much better so far.
I am so happy to be homeschooled.
sorry to hear about your high school troubles TDIT I could definately relate to being bullied. I’ve only had two bullies, one freshman year and one sophomore year. While I don’t get bothered any more, I don’t see why anyone would want to be such a torture to anybody just cuz the can 
I went to private “christian” schools all my life before high school. (christian is in quotations because most of the kids there are far from acting like christians). So while I was already used to the whole social scene, it was a bit different in public school. More cussing, bullying, and just trouble making in general.
In my freshman year of high school I got into a not so fantastical group of friends. Most of them were skateboarders, which usually comes with trouble making. While I usually didn’t break the law (except for trespassing a few times ), nothing bad ever really happened. We did get kicked off of a lot of people property though. Eventually I stopped hanging out with this group of friends because I wasn’t really that interested in skating. Overall though, Freshman year was a really good year.
Then came sophomore year, which was the worst year of high school and possibly my life. For whatever reason, my acne suddenly decided to break out REALLY badly. So I was often made fun of for that. Then I had this guy that I just hated who used to hit me every day and make my life miserable (which I think I used to talk about on here a long time ago). I absolutely hated my Sophomore year, and I vowed that I wouldn’t let that kind of year happen again.
So now I’m in my Junior year, and this is unarguably the best year of high school for me. My acne cleared up, I lost weight, I started dressing a bit more fashionable, I got more involved in my Improv club, and I stopped just turning the other cheek when I was bullied. I bassically started fighting back a bit, and I was surprised at how little it ended up taking to get people off my back. The guy who made my life miserable last year is actually a good friend of mine now. I’m loving this year of high school, and I’m hoping that next year will be even better
thanks to anybody who actually read all of that. I’m a bit rambly on that subject
Wow TDIT and mo, if it weren’t for y’all, I wouldn’t believe that bullies exsist, save one that I know of, at my school.
Thanks everyone… and thanks for sharing your own tales.
mo - I’m glad that you’re having a great time now, and that you’ve made amends with your former enemy. As I mentioned, I only succeeded in becoming friends with one of my tormentors, so I know that I was not part of the problem. I just happened to be a very unlucky teen always in the wrong place at the wrong time.
IncredigirlVirginia - I hope the situation improves for you. Try to make some friends who understand about your condition, and try to be nice to everyone. I really hope you find someone (or several people) who will be your friend at school and ‘protect’ you from all the ignorant ones. Do not underestimate yourself. As long as you’re a warm and friendly person, you have done no wrong.
skunklover - There are advantages and disadvantages to homeschooling, but I’ll be brief. You are missing out on the chance to experience working in a group environment and collaborating with people in a set location within fixed hours, which is how the workplace is in real-life. Of course, you do get to save a lot on tuition fees and transportation, so it balances out. As long as you socialise frequently outside, there’s really no ‘better’ or ‘worse’ choice between homeschooling and teacher-based schooling.
thewisecookiesheet - Believe me, there are real buttholes out there. You mentioned you know one yourself, but thankfully you’re not his/her victim. And trust me, being one is not the most fun thing in the world.
Now that I’m much older, I know how to deal with bullies. I just feel bad for them, since really deep down, they’re cowards, so they take out their frustrations on/show off to other people. Then they grow up and find that they are more feared than loved. My parents consoled me with the fact that my tormentors could’ve been victims themselves of a ‘broken’ family. This is not to say all poor parents raise bullies, but most of them have probably experienced personal problems, be it with their families or self-esteem, to ‘compensate’ with their bravado. After all, you never hear of studious high-achievers picking on anyone. And although I despised them for making me their punching bag, I sometimes wonder if they, too, are the victims of their own acts.
I’m sorry if this turned into a ‘counseling session’, but I really want to share my story so that bully-victims know they’re not alone, and that the perpetrators themselves realize they are hurting not just other people, but themselves. If there’s someone who looks or acts differently from you, please don’t mock/hurt him or her. Being their friend could be the best thing that can happen to both of you. Be kind to everyone, and always stand up for the underdog. They’ll appreciate it more than you know.
Other than this grim aspect, my high-school life was pretty uneventful. I remember I wrote a lot of short-fiction entries for my school yearbooks (in almost every school) and I even designed the poster and banner for a play on ‘The Pied Piper of Hamelin’ (which was ruthlessly mocked by Ketchup and his posse, talk about ‘constructive’ criticism!). Spent a lot of time running between lectures with two bags (they had a lot of textbooks in Singapore!) and hiding in libraries by myself with books, or with the ‘comic book nerd gang’. I didn’t have a lot of friends, but the ones I did make help me to ‘survive’ through those years, and for that, I’m grateful.