How to Survive a High School You Hate

• “I circled ‘Physical Discomfort.’ I hate beating up my body every day in gym class, and our uniforms are itchy and too tight. But why do I hate gym class and uniforms so much? Well…when I wake up every morning I feel like I can’t move my legs, and there’s this weird rash on my back that isn’t going away. Those are two things that are making going to high school literally painful for me.“
• “I circled ‘Social Discomfort.’ I never get asked out to school dances, and I’m hearing gossip about me every day. I guess what makes things like gossip really bad is that I don’t have a group of friends I can fall back on. No one’s there to back me up against the gossip, and I don’t have anyone to hang out with when school dances roll around.”
• “I circled ‘Academic Discomfort.’ Math is the most boring subject in school, and I hate it when the teacher calls on me. Every minute of class drags on, and whenever I get called on I don’t know what to say. I’ve had boring classes before, but this class feels like torture. I guess this class is especially bad because I didn’t get a chance to learn half the material we’re covering in middle school, and I can’t even figure out how to do most of the homework.”
  
  The point of this step is to figure out the reasons behind your dislike of high school. Write down your reasons on a separate sheet of paper. Now that you’ve identified why you hate high school, you can take specific steps to solve the problem.

Problem: I need a group of friends who I can fall back on.

Ways I can solve this:
1. Try out new student clubs I’m interested in.
2. Sit with people eating alone in the cafeteria
3. Help out people struggling with things that I’m good at.
4. Try talking with other students sitting quietly on the bus
5. Join activities and organizations outside of school.


Problem: Math class is covering material I never learned, and the teacher is always making me participate in class.

Ways I can solve this:
1. Talk with my teacher and explain the situation.
2. Figure out what areas I can work on, and borrow the right textbooks from the library.
3. Ask someone if she wants to study for math together.
4. Write down everything I don’t understand, and bring it up during class.
5. Ask my teacher to slow down.


Problem: Gym class is making it painful to get up from bed.

Ways I can solve this:
1. Try to stretch more after gym
2. Go to the doctor and see if something’s wrong.
3. Talk with my gym teacher and ask her for advice.
4. Find ice and bandages to apply to my legs after class.

• You should wait a little longer. Things will get better over time.
  By this point, you've already identified why high school is such a painful experience. You've created a set of possible solutions, talked them over with others, and tried them all. Yes, you could wait--but should you? By this point, waiting is no longer a productive option.
• You'll hate the high school you transfer to even more.
  Some chance is better than no chance at all. And after trying many possible solutions, you know that your high school doesn't offer you much of a chance for happiness and well-being. Establish the fact that you need to transfer, and are willing to take a risk. Later steps in this section will help you make sure the high school you transfer to will be an improvement over your old one.
• For more help with this step, read How to Convince Your Parents to Let You Switch Schools .

• Ask what documents you need to transfer. You will most likely need your official academic transcripts.
• Ask if you will lose any academic credits by transferring. Depending on the high school you’re considering transferring to, you might have to retake classes or meet new requirements, which will force you to graduate late. It’s probably a good idea to send your transcripts to the registrar so she can check whether or not you’ll lose any credits in the transfer.
• Ask if you can visit the high school you’re considering transferring to. You don’t want to leave a high school you hate to go to a high school you’ll hate even more. Visiting a high school is a great way to get a feel for whether it has what you’re looking for.
• Ask where you can get more information about the high school. Doing some research on the classes and activities offered by each high school in your area will help you decide which one to transfer to.

• To help you make your decision, try writing down the Pros and Cons of each high school you're considering, then comparing them.
• Make sure that the high school you're transferring to will effectively deal with the problem category you circled in Part 1.

• It's a small world. You may end up meeting people in your old high school

• Note that there is some controversy over the value of a GED. There is debate over whether most colleges and employers see getting a GED as equivalent to getting a high school degree. However, most people would agree that having a GED gives you more options than not having one will.
• 17 American states currently offer alternatives to the GED, and 10 states don't offer the GED entirely. ^[5] Contact your high school registrar for more information on whether your state offers the GED or an alternative testing method. If your state doesn't offer the GED, schedule a meeting with your registrar or academic counselor to get more information on how to get alternative credentials.

• If you don’t think you’ll be able to pass the GED, realize that it might be difficult to find work without a high school diploma. In this case, it might be worth it to stay in a high school you hate it.
• For more specific information on getting a GED, read How to Get a GED.

• This will probably be a difficult conversation. You might find it helpful to write down a rough outline of what you’re going to say beforehand.
• You may have to make your case multiple times before your parents realize how serious you are about your decision.
• Passing a GED practice test and showing your parents your scores will demonstrate that you’re up to the task of passing the real thing.