Photo from UST Office of Admissions
I can still remember our Grade 6 adviser standing before our batch, lecturing about the K-12 program, or Kinder to Grade 12, by the Department of Education. This means that there will be two additional years in high school, which is now called “Senior High.” While some schools have already commenced this program because they have adapted the 12-year education system earlier, Senior High will give the majority of Filipino students an edge of what to expect in college, where we are all pushed to the best of our abilities, and where the competition gets tougher—the real world.
Senior High can be tough, and so here are 8 tips for surviving and making the best of your last two years in high school:
8. Identify your interests.
What are you passionate about? Cooking? Or do you like designing buildings? How about repairing, building, or maintaining engines, machines, or public works? Is writing stories and articles your forte? Or are you good at performing arts?
Ask yourself: “What is that one thing I really LOVE doing?” You know, something that doesn’t bore you to death because that’s how much you enjoy and love it. You can also distinguish your interests through a career assessment test, an aptitude exam, a career advocacy program, or an occupational interest inventory.
7. Research about possible career tracks.
What are the tracks in Senior High? There are four Senior High School specialized subjects namely the Academic Track, Technical-Vocational Livelihood Track, Sports Track, and Arts, and Design track. Under the Academic Track, there are four stands that are Accountancy, Business and Management (ABM) Strand, Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS) Strand, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Strand, and lastly, General Academic Strand. The Technical-Vocational Livelihood Track also has a variety of specializations such as Agri-Fishery Arts, Home Economics, Information and Communications (ICT), and Industrial Arts.
Actually, those are only general tracks. When you enter college, you will have to select one undergraduate program and that has to be it. If you are still undecided with what program to take, start completing the puzzle piece by piece. To begin with, settle on what strand or track you would like to take for Senior High School. This should guide you to your preferences for college. For example, if you are torn between becoming a doctor and an engineer, pick the STEM strand since the general subjects like Biology, Chemistry, and Physics will be introduced there. After two years, you’ll be convinced of what to become.
6. Seek out advice from well-informed people around you.
Who can you rely on? If your mom is an accountant, inquire about her career. If your dad is an athlete, ask some professional tips from him. You will not only bond with them, but you will also gain a personal advantage in opposition to others. Your parents have a wide-range of ideas about it because they experienced it. They are experts in that field, so why not ask? Who would know better other than them? It’s not about being needy. You’re a family. Of course, you have to familiarize your parents with your plans, your objectives, so they can guide and support you, both financially and emotionally.
If there’s one advice I want to share, which I got from my dad, it is to ensure the right timing. According to the book my dad read, “Great men and women are beneficiaries of specialization, collaboration, time, place, and culture. An outlier’s recipe for success is not personal mythos but the synthesis of opportunity and time on task.” Yes, timing has a lot to do with everything.
