Class of 2019 Offers Advice to Underclassmen
Have as much fun as possible in high school while also keeping your grades as high as possible. These are some of the best and most responsibility free years of your life! So, enjoy, but also plan for life AFTER Prairie Ridge as well 🙂  – Abby Klimkowski
I wish I would have learned how to use my time more productively sooner rather than later because once I started doing that I became so much more successful in balancing school work and after school activities. – Abby Schirmer
Try your best – Abi Baca
Get involved and don’t wait until senior year. I heard this advice and didn’t [take it] and I regret it. – Abigail Hoffman
Start getting involved more in the community and at PR! Â Have fun! My biggest regret was not participating enough freshman year — I really started participating heavily my sophomore year. Â Most of high school was spent stressing about grades. Please, do have some fun! – Adnan Noorullah
Do your work and keep the grades up. This is repeated over and over and it is something I ignored but it is true, very true. Â – Adrian Kochmanski
Stick with Spanish – Alexandra Dalzell
Don’t judge others based on first appearance. You never know what they’re going through. – Allison Ehrenberger
Take 4 years of a language!! It is so cool when you go to other countries because you can understand what people are saying, have fun conversations and meet people that you wouldn’t normally meet if you just spoke English! – Allison Mattran
Get involved!! You will get busy at times but being in lots of activities teaches you how to be a part of something bigger than just yourself and you’ll be thankful for the academic break 🙂 – Ally Akerberg
Talk to your teachers! Teachers are so much more willing to help you be your best if they understand you as a person and your life outside of class. Having a good relationship with your teachers goes beyond being polite in class. Say hi to them in the halls, ask them how their days are, talk to them about stuff not class related. You’ll find yourself enjoying classes way more when you know the person teaching it. – Amber Johnson
Take a Foods class – Angie Thrasher
Every senior always says “enjoy it while you can because it goes by fast,” and I never believed them when I was younger, but trust me it really flies by – Anja Trost
Don’t procrastinate!!!!!!! – Anna Tulke
Dont worry too much about college. – Anthony Nardi
High school sucks but you can get through it and find something that will help you survive – Ashley Roberts
Find your passions and pursue them wholeheartedly. – Bailey Schneyr
Know when permission slip forms are due for a field trip and also know when the date of that field trip is so you don’t forget, like I did freshman year. Also, if you don’t understand something, ask the teachers about it, because it is their job to help you learn and grow academically. Almost all of the teachers will agree to meet with you. Â – Bella Levitan
Don’t get lazy. – Brennen Briske
Do your formative [homework]! You could be doing poorly in your summative grades, but if you turn your homework in, it’ll bring your grade up. – Brooke Faron
Get involved and try different things. Â – Caitlin Pieroni
Get good grades  (you will need them) – Calvin Pesina
Start good grades freshman year – Camille Drain
Learn to manage time well earlier on in your high school career – Carolyn Sveden
Try to actually get involved, don’t go putting it off, saying I’ll do it next year,or next time. Just DO IT. You’ll get more opportunities and meet so many new people. Â – Cassie Beadell
My advice to the younger classmen would be to show up every day (it’s not that hard), put forth effort in everything you do, get involved, and finally join work program (you get out early).  – Cassie Cassano
I know this sounds cheesy, but live in the moment and enjoy every second of it because time goes by way too fast and before you know it, you’re graduating. Â – Chloe Gale
Take freshman and sophomore year seriously because that sets your next two years up for success. Do not procrastinate! Time management is the most important skill to master in order to succeed in life! – Colette Reiche
My advice to underclassmen would be to put yourself out there and try new things because it will make your 4 years at PR so much better. One mistake I made was that I worried too much about what other people were doing when I should’ve been focused on what I wanted to do. Â – Colleen Schneider
Time flies so fast: don’t care about what anyone thinks and use these years as your time to find out who you are and who you want to be without letting other people’s opinions influence that. – Cora Knochel
Do well freshman year. Â – Drake Regenhardt
Take AP classes that you will enjoy. There isn’t class rank, so it’s not worth tanking your GPA for the sake of having a rigorous schedule. Â – Drew Gende
Honors classes are challenging. Â – Dylan Steinkamp
Get to know your teachers and don’t be afraid to ask them for help. Â – Elena Faia
Work your absolute hardest those first two years because it really sets you up for success as an upperclassman! – Emily Kouzios
Join clubs/activities that are out of your comfort zone. You never know what you’ll like and you’ll gain way more friends. – Emmie Farnam
Don’t stress too much over school work. – Erik Podlasek
Do what you want no matter what people tell you. And get good grades and actually try cause your gonna wish you had as a sophomore and freshman. Â – Ethan Munk
Don’t be petty; everything will be all right in the end. – Evan Bennett
Graduate early. You won’t regret it. Work hard and don’t fail your classes. – Gavin Jones
Have fun with your projects and assignments, especially senior year – Grant Jensen
For every yes, there will be a no. Â – Halie Collins
Do more activities with the school. Going through school without getting involved in anything makes high school drag on. Find something fun to do, and don’t be afraid to do things you want even if you’re. Try new things. – Hannah Szubski
Do all of your homework, not just the parts you need – Hunter Berkland
Try new things! You never know if you’ll like something if you never try it. – Hunter Fredrick
Participate in clubs right away – Isaac Wolfinsohn
Work hard in your classes from the very start. It’s really hard to boost your GPA once you’re a junior or senior. Take challenging classes because the teachers at PR are so good and helpful that it won’t feel as hard as it is and you’ll be happy that you took the class.  – Isabella Dimitriou
High school doesn’t matter. Your grades might but the people and their opinion don’t.  – Jaclyn Martino
Get involved and don’t be afraid to get out of your comfort zone. Also give it your all in your classes for all 4 years. – Jared Arkell
If you have any interest at all in doing something, go try it. Don’t wait three years to find out you really like something. – Jared Greiner
Apply yourself fully before it’s too late – Jarred Tabor
Don’t think about your future so much! Try to live in the moment and create new and fun experiences doing so. – Jen Briske
Don’t get bad grades and work as hard as you can.  – Jered Marrs
Everyone says this but it’s true TRY your freshman year!! But also remember that the friends you start high school with, might not be the ones you’ll be leaving with. Also CHANGE is okay, don’t be scared of it! And have fun!! – Jessica Angeles
Try to stay on top of your work and try not to procrastinate – Jessica Bilodeau
Don’t ever underestimate yourself! Just because you are not the best at everything, does not mean that you can’t do amazing things: join the team, take the class, apply for the scholarship! Also, don’t be afraid to talk to your teachers, whether it is school or non-school related–they all care about you and want to get to know you and help you! – Jillian Shorten
I wish I would’ve known college isn’t as stressful as people think. People think that college planning and the SAT is super stressful, but it’s really not. – Jordan Driver
Try freshman year  – Kaleigh Doroba
Work hard but always do what makes you happy! Â – Karly Statter
Don’t worry too much about getting an A+ in all your classes. Build your extracurriculars and develop a passion of yours deeply. – Logan Dooley
Step outside of your comfort zone more often and go out of your way to meet new people. I didn’t really do that until this year and I wish I hadn’t been afraid to try new experiences. Â – Maddi Carey
I regret not going on the spring break trips (when kids go to France/Italy/Spain) because those seem so fun, you get to travel, and everything is planned out. Also, you should figure out how you learn best. Fresh/soph year I studied too hard and wasted so much time and senior year I realized I only had to do half of the work to still get good grades. Â – Maddy Kim
Don’t give up  – Madi Sostarich
My advice would be to get involved in new things and try different classes because you might actually find something new you life to do. Â – Madie Bentsen
Know how to get to your classes BEFORE the first day of school (or you’ll cry and be lost) – Maggie Popovich
Don’t be afraid to go out of your comfort zone and try something new! – Maggie Schremp
I wish I’d focused a bit more on my grades freshman and sophomore year. I also wish that I had joined more clubs. – Matt Burseth
Don’t walk slow/take up the whole hallway, it makes the rest of us annoyed. Also, every assignment matters, even if it’s “only formative.” – Matt Sinchak
Be involved. – Max Kauffman
Fill your schedule with classes; as fun as commons periods are, you don’t need a bunch each day! – Mel Hahn
Don’t sweat the small stuff! I can assure you that what your stressed about won’t even matter in a couple months or even weeks from now 🙂 – Mia Jackowski
Look over study guides as much as possible – Michael Frachalla
To do as many extracurricular activities as possible. Aways get involved or you will regret it! – Morgan Taylor
Get involved. – Mya Parochelli
Work hard from freshman to junior year – Nathan Ryskulov
My advice to underclassmen would be to try new things coming into high school. Don’t stick to basic things, but rather push yourself to step out of your comfort zone and join clubs. It’s a great way to meet new people, and it looks good for college. – Nick Gutowsky
Get involved – Nikki Anderson
KEEP YOUR GPA UP FRESHMAN YEAR!!! – Noah Smeja
Make sure you get your work done – Olivia Annen
Do your work – Owen Hirschey
Try hard your freshman year so your GPA is set for the rest of high school. But also try to have fun in your classes and find something you like. Â – Peter Blanchard
If you won’t remember or care about something in a year or two then it shouldn’t stress you out to an insane degree right now. Â It’s obviously okay to care about that thing, but letting it stress you out and deteriorate your mental state is just not worth it. Â It’s easy to say “don’t sweat the small stuff” but most people’s problem is that they need to redefine what qualifies as “small stuff”. Â A lot of people stress far too much about things that in the end, won’t really matter. I know this is easier said than done, but this is such an important lesson to learn because it drastically improves your mental health. – Ross Relic
Never ever forget to get a Dr.’s note when you leave school early – Sera Trigo
Try not to slack off too much senior year; it’ll be a lot more stressful than you think if you do! – Sierra Winoker
Get involved freshman year!! The more time you spend in an activity, the more meaningful relationships you will build with your peers and get the opportunity to improve yourself  – Sophia Pascente
Do your homework – Steel Blew
You really have to trust your gut when it comes to picking out classes. Some people may say not to take too many AP classes, but you may be able to handle it — in which case, go for it! Some may pressure you to take more than you are comfortable with and that’s when you need to know yourself and your limits so that you don’t get in too far over your head, but challenge yourself the right amount.  – Sylvia Hensley
Go hard – Tim Cook
Don’t get too far behind on your assignments.  – Trevor Feucht
Be yourself and don’t procrastinate! – Victoria Trax
Don’t worry about your GPA and grades as much as finding new experiences and finding what you truly love to do. Don’t create unnecessary stress for yourself. – Zach Alexander
Study. Don’t procrastinate.  – Zach Gregorio