Tuesday, August 6, 2013

High School Advice #9 - Who Are You? Guest Post by Jade Varden @JadeVarden Author of the Deck of Lies series

Who Are You?

Ask anyone who's been through it, and they'll probably tell you the same thing: high school is the worst. Everyone is split into their own little groups, and if you don't belong to the right one it feels like your life might as well be over. If you don't belong to any group at all, things feel truly terrible. But if you're a little lost and confused and have no idea where to go, you're like most people who have gone through high school.


Everyone's Lost

You aren't supposed to know who you are yet. High school exists so you  can start figuring that out. You get four years to find out what you like and don't like, what you think about the world and how you feel about other people. It's sort of a warm-up for your adult life. It's okay to make a few wrong turns in high school, because you're going to. Wrong turns may lead to all the right paths. 

It's not okay to sit and wait for your life to come to you. High school is a time for you to figure things out, so start doing it...by joining clubs and groups at the school. Use your time in high school to explore options, and forget about whether this group likes it or that group thinks it's cool. This is your time to learn how to be you, and it doesn't matter what the most popular girls in school have to say about it. They're popular and busy now...but in 10 years they still might not know how to answer a simple question: who are you? 

Take pictures for the yearbook. Write articles for the paper. Join the AV club, or the glee club, or the theater club. And if your friends laugh at you for it, they're not the greatest of friends. Tell them you're figuring it out and finding out what you like. Because they may laugh now, but maybe you'll go on to be the next big Hollywood director because you learned how to operate a camera while doing the morning news show for your school. If you don't find out what you like in high school, you won't know what to study at college. You might end up in a career you hate, surrounded by people you don't like...and high school will be such a distant memory then, you won't believe you ever made life decisions because of the other kids there.

Decisions, Decisions

Who are you? Don't even attempt to answer it yet, not until you've explored all your options and learned where your interests are. You may be great at something, and never find out because you never even gave it a try. So start participating in school activities. If you don't like it, you can always try something new...that's what high school is all about.


About the Author

Jade Varden, author of the Deck of Lies series, writes young adult novels for teen readers. When she’s not crafting mysteries in her books, Jade also blogs practical writing tips for authors who self-publish. Jade currently makes her home in Louisville, Kentucky, where she enjoys reading and reviewing indie books by other self-published authors.

Follow her on Twitter @JadeVarden. Visit Jade’s blog at http://jadevarden.blogspot.com/ for reviews, writing tips, self-publishing advice and everything else you ever wanted to know about reading and writing books.

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Silverwood is an affluent California community filled with beautiful people who have ugly secrets. It's easy to be dazzled by the pretty smiles, the designer clothing, the fancy cars...but underneath all that polish and shine, the silver and gold are tarnished beyond repair. Every truth hides more deception.

Previous Guest posts:  High School Advice #1, High School Advice #2, High School Advice #3, High School Advice #4, High School Advice #5, High School Advice #6High School Advice #7, High School Advice #8

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