#NEW FACTS; 3 things you must do before leaving secondary school

You’re almost out of senior secondary school and on to bigger and better things! But before you figure out your arrangements for next year and start meeting your future peers, there are a couple of loose ends you need to tie up at the end of your secondary school journey!

1. Write thank-you notes to your teachers.

Teachers are often underappreciated, and they’ll be happy to know they made an impact in a student’s life! You can give genuine expressions of gratitude to these teachers instead of tacky, generic messages that come in Hallmark cards. List specific times when a teacher has helped you over the years, like when they went over essays with you after class or helped you during a tough time academically or personally.

2. Show your friends you care

The weeks leading up to graduation may be the last time your close friends are all together. Many people leave for vacation or a college summer session right after high school ends, and you might not get to see them then for a while.

We recommend small but meaningful gifts for your friends, like colorful pillowcases, charming bracelets, neckties, soccer boots.

3. Settle any conflicts

By the end of secondary school, you may have some beef with a couple of friends (or frenemies, for that matter). If you’re up for it, talk to them and figure out what went wrong. You don’t want to go to the university with baggage. Clearing the air will make you feel lighter and more ready to take on the life that’s ahead of you!

It’s either make amends, or decide that it’s not worth your time and just move on from it. This really depends on the situation, but you should try to clean everything up by the end of school! If you feel like it would provide closure, we definitely recommend talking to people you had issues with in the past.  However, be constructive and show a willingness to move forward. Instead, try saying something about how you feel like, ‘I felt hurt and excluded from the group last year, but I definitely want to move past it and for us to be on good terms.’ Then, listen to what the other person has to say!”

You do not have to be best friends after making up with someone but just try to be on good terms with everybody, especially when there are so many occasions when you have to see people at the end of school and you do not know what tomorrow brings – they could just be your roommate in the university!