The first few weeks, or even the first year of high school, can be difficult. But with time, it gets better.

Coming from a private Catholic school of about 90 kids that I’d grown up with (pretty much the only people my age that I had known since kindergarten), all the stress of a new school, with a completely different environment and the constant nagging thoughts of, “Do I look good?” and “Was that girl looking at me because I’m an awkward, fat, unpopular freshman?” ruled most of my first year here.

My freshman year was tough. After being the skinny girl all my life — the one that everyone always says is the equivalent of a broomstick or that will float away when a strong wind picks up — I finally started to put on weight. When clothes started not to fit anymore, I worried that that was the reason why I didn’t have very many friends.

But since then, I’ve gotten more and more comfortable with the idea of high school. After the initial shock of being in a new place with all new people faded, I was able to get used to the building and the people in it. I’ve had teachers that I loved and teachers that I’ve less than favored. There have been boys, and there has been heartbreak. I’ve had plenty of friends, and, regrettably, I’ve lost a few. I found my “family,” a group of people that continually amaze me and make me feel at home inside the walls of Northwest.

The fact of the matter is, high school will most likely not be the worst or the best days of your life. It may not turn out the way  you plan, but there’s no need to worry about ruining your life during these next four years. Don’t get me wrong, you’ll make mistakes, and you’ll have to pay for those mistakes, and that may seem like it’s the end of the world. But trust me, it’s not.

So no matter how tough it is, no matter how many problems arise from the seemingly millions of papers you get from math class, no matter how many times you trip over your own shoelaces in gym class; it’ll always get better. If it’s not all you hoped and dreamed, just give it time, and it’ll be great, or at least tolerable.