Click here for yesterday's five tips of how to survive high school.

I'm curious.  What state/country do you live in and when do you start school?  Are you an upcoming freshman?  What are your fears?  What are you confident about, if anything?  My high school starts on August 18.  It's coming up quickly.  I'm pretty excited... but I'll be a senior.  If you're an upcoming freshman, it's easy to become afraid of the unknown.  That's why I'm here, offering you friendly sisterly advice.

Here are today's five tips for how to survive high school.  Be sure to check back tomorrow for five more.

1. Be ready to study hard before your very first test in each class.  High school tests are way more difficult than middle school tests.  Plus, you're learning the testing system of all new teachers.  At the beginning of my freshman year, I practically bombed every first test in each class.  Study harder than you ever will that first couple of weeks as you get used to high school academics.  It will pull off.

2. Please do not pretend you're cooler than the seniors.  You're not, and you won't be treated that way just because you act like it.  A lot of insecure freshmen act like hotshots to the upperclassmen, trying to show off or pretend like they're way cooler than us.  Don't do that.  You'll only be ridiculed.  Don't act defensive whenever you see a senior.  Don't treat us rudely just because we're older than you or because you're afraid of us.  Smile and act sweet and say hi.  Ask us questions about high school.  We'll treat you like a person if you act normal, acknowledge the fact that we're older, and don't pretend to be way cooler than you are.

3. Share your fears about high school with a friend.  I know it can be embarrassing to admit that you're scared, but it's tough to hold your emotions and fears and doubts inside.  Find a close friend to talk to, or even better, an older mentor of sorts who is already in high school.  Talk to her about what you're feeling.  You will get so much encouragement from a good conversation than you will if you hold everything inside until you're about to burst.  Talk about your fears.  Practice this throughout the year as well.  It will keep you from feeling like you're constantly walking on egg shells.  Talking to a close friend is a release.

4. Try to get a good night's sleep before school starts.  The first week of school is the most stressful.  Don't make it worse by being exhausted.  I know it's hard to sleep before first day, just like it's hard to sleep before Christmas.  Try.  Pray about it.  Don't do anything too exciting the night before school.  If you have to, get into the routine of going to bed and getting up earlier than usual.  Do anything you can to help you not be too tired that first week of school.

5.  Don't try to hang out with upperclassmen all the time.  It isn't cool.  Yes, we want to mentor you and be a positive example to you.  No, we don't want you to hang out with us every second of every day.  I don't mind taking a freshman out for lunch now and then, sometimes even up to once a week or so.  I do mind if that freshman wants to go out to lunch with me every single day.  Don't follow upper grades around all the time.  Don't sit with upper grades every single day at lunch.  Don't constantly text, tweet, and Facebook us with messages like, "When are we going to hang out? You're my best friend!"  Don't try to get a ride off campus every single day.  There are always a few freshmen who try to be upperclassmen.  You aren't one of us yet.  Hang out with kids your own age too.  You'll get to be a senior in a few years.  Don't rush it.

So you're a freshman.  If a senior calls you a fish, don't get angry.  Just smile and laugh.  Take it.  There is no reason to freak out.  High school should be the best time of your life.  Don't let anything ruin it.  Here are five tips of how to survive high school, written from a senior.  To see yesterday's five tips, click here.

1.  Be respectful to those around you.  Don't stand in the hallway and chat with your friends.  The hallway isn't big enough for that.  You're in the way.  Do not stand in front of someone's locker.  That's  just plain rude.  Never stand in front of a doorway to talk.  Don't bring a zillion girls to have a mini-party in the bathroom.  There may be an upperclassman who actually needs to go.  Remember that you're the freshman this year.  For the next nine months, you are the least regarded of everyone in the school.  That doesn't have to be any big deal as long as you stay out of the way of public hallways, doors, bathrooms, and lockers.  Don't wander around in groups of loud, giggling, squealing girls.  You will annoy seniors and make us mad at you.  Be respectful to those around you.  Don't ever do the things I listed above, even when you get older.  It's rude, no matter who you are.

2.  Actually do your homework.  School really does matter when you're a freshman.  This will be your easiest year of high school academically, but it will still matter.  Don't slack off.  Keep your grades up or you'll destroy your GPA and your chances of getting a good scholarship.  The best ways to keep up your grades are to turn in your homework and actually study.  That's right.  Designate thirty minutes to an hour of homework time each evening.  Just get it over with.

3. Don't be afraid to reach out to older girls.  Do you need a mentor, someone to look up to?  Do you need someone to give you fashion advice, boy advice, or just an older-sister kind of friendship?  Talk to an upperclassman girl.  Reach out to us.  We're the leaders of the school and we feel that pressure.  We want to reach out to you and mentor you.  You will not be turned away.  We are experienced in high school situations that you haven't gone through yet.  If you're going through a problem, we can help you solve it.  Started your period at school?  That's embarrassing.  We can lend you a jacket and give you a tampon without spreading it around the school.  We're more mature than your friends are right now.  We're older, and we'd love to give you advice.   All you have to do is ask.

4. Be sure to keep up with your spiritual walk.  Freshman year is busy and crazy and fun and stressful.  You need to be sure to read the Bible and have a little quiet time with God every day or He will drift into the shadows of your life.  In order to have a successful first year of high school, God needs to be number one.  Keep praying.  Keep studying.  Keep growing in Him.

5. Do not act out in class to look cool.  It's not funny.  You look stupid.  Do not dress outlandishly to look cool.  It's not funny.  You look stupid.  Do not make funny remarks after what an "uncool" person or the teacher says to look cool.  It's not funny.  You look stupid.  Do not be the class clown to look cool.  It's not funny.  You look stupid.  Maybe you should read this out loud.

Check back tomorrow to read the next five tips to surviving high school.