How can I improve my grades in high school?
I'm a junior in high school: I'm in an honors English course, AP US government, Pre-calculus Honors (advanced math), an elective history course, advanced French, and Physics Mathematically Rigorous. In 7th and 8th grade I had really good grades, I was basically a straight A student. In 9th grade I had mostly A's and some B's. Sophomore year my grades started to slump near the second half of the year when I started getting occasional C's.
This year, we're still in first semester, and I have a B-, A-, C-, A+, A-, and C+ in the courses listed above respectively. I failed Physics first quarter. I have had a very rough school year so far; in September I missed 3 days because I was sick, then a month later I was suspended for 5 days, and then last month I missed a couple days because I was very sick with mono and so that has partially contributed to my poor grades.
The other contributing factor is that since the middle of sophomore year I have gotten heavily into drugs. I started smoking pot occasionally, and back in the summer and September I smoked pot and tobacco almost everyday. When this school year started, I started getting into harder drugs when I tried cocaine, amphetamines, oxycodone (an opiate), mushrooms, and acid. I've also recently been shooting up the cocaine instead of snorting, which I think may be more addicting for me. it I got in trouble with my parents for doing acid about 3 weeks ago. They have also caught me smoking pot a few times this school year and had me taken to the doctor to get drug tested after I was suspended for an unrelated incident.
The trouble now is that I was just showing my parents my grades online and my dad told me that they're seriously considering having me take a gap year after I graduate to stay in my hometown and work, because they do not feel that I'm mature enough to go to college. They told me my grades aren't good enough to go to any good school and that they won't give me money to go if I don't want to take a gap year. They're afraid I'm going to get in trouble with drugs if I'm out on my own and end up being a "burnout pothead" and dropping out of school.
I personally think this is total bullshit. I am very angry right now because I can't take out loans on my own without adult cosigners. I also think that part of the reason is that my parents truly can't pay for it because they are already paying for my brother's college and I feel like, since money is so tight right now, they probably tapped into my college fund to pay for him. He is going to a very expensive school.
I don't want to sound ungrateful or like I'm complaining, but I feel like this is going to really screw up my life in a major way and that even though I'm a very productive person (I'm not an addict or a burnout by any means), they are going to keep me here in this small town, and that inertia is going to turn me into a burnout. I feel like I'll lose momentum and motivation if I have to stay in this town for an extra year in which I don't go to school and work at my shitty job at the grocery store.
I guess this question is less of how to improve my grades and more of how do I get my life back together? I have been trying very hard to get back in order in school, and it has kind of been working but there hasn't been a very significant change. I have also been trying very hard to limit my drug use, and I have been successfully able to cut down and keep my sobriety by smoking cigarettes. I feel like when I make achievements in my academic and private life, I don't get any sort of praise or credit, but when I make a mistake, I get an avalanche. I know other people aren't obliged to giving me praise and why should they? i just don't know what to do. please offer any advice or wisdom that you can.
1. Stop making excuses. If you put as much effort into your school work as you did in your excuses you'd be ahead of the game. ("excuses are like a$$ holes: everyone has one and they all stink.")
2. Set your priorities. Do you want good grades or do you want time to relax?
3. If you want to understand something, ask your teacher -- do not post your school-work related questions to this website.
4. From a parent's perspective, despite your *good* work and grades, some of your behavior is screaming that you're not worth investing money for your college. I'd suggest you straighten up big time in the eyes of your parents and earn the money your parents will be paying for your college.
5. Put your nose to the grindstone BIG TIME. Most 99%ers are just lazy lumps who do not want to put in the effort that it takes to be a 1%er.
For all your Cuban Cigar and Cigar accessories. We also have a range of Mexican Cigars and French Cognac. Cigars-Online for all the finer things ...
