Friday Question of the Day – What’s the best Advice You’ve Ever Received?

Photo by PoPville flickr user christopher.poole

At the end of the day on Thurs. commenter bloom wrote a very thoughtful note in response to the post by Danny Harris titled, ‘Erica on How School Really Is’. The post seemed to hit a nerve with some commenters and after 120 comments bloom wrote:

Dear Erica,

You are an open and honest young woman, very sweet and interesting too. I’m glad your family is so strong.

My one wish for you is to stay with school/classes even when its boring. It is true school feels boring sometimes. Really you have no choice about attending school when you’re a kid/young person so at times, it feels not only boring but like prison. Yes, I remember that too, and I am very different from you, but in that regard, we’re the same… and I was normally the type of student who loved school.

Sometimes when you have a job, there are moments like that too. The trick is to try to find a job where you experience that “boring/prison” feeling as little as possible!

Nowadays, things even more boring, more often sometimes because we want to be online, on phones, etc.

Here are some ideas for being less bored.
#1, Know it’s the middle of the year — this is a hard time for everyone. Just keep going to class and stay with it. The end will come very soon. Keep focused on the conversation.

#2, There is nothing more boring than a class where the teacher does all the talking. Contribute to your classes. If you have opinions and you share them, you will model for others to do this. Classes where students share opinions (thoughtful ones on the subject) are great. I have a hard time believing your history or government classes are that boring, truly? In this city?

Keep reading and studying so you can speak up (as you did so nicely here) and continue to share.

#3, Know it’s okay to be bored from time to time.

If it’s extremely boring try reading a book in class. The teacher will get the picture, and you can’t be accused of anything!

#4, Find one friend, even if just for one class who you can rely on. Be helpful to each other with the class. A friend can make a class much less boring too. Study together.

#5, Know some teachers really do care about you, even though it isn’t always obvious. Notice how many students they work with and the jobs that they have. When you see a crappy teacher, see what you can learn on your own anyway. Those teachers exist. They don’t have the right to take away a subject from you.

#6, Try to find one class or just one subject that interests you especially, and enjoy pursuing it a little more. It will help you take your mind off of other things when you’re upset.

#7 H.S. is extremely social. All your social relationships will come and go. They are fun. If you learn anything, it will stay with you and be useful. Don’t sell yourself short and let your days be ruined by social crap.

#8, Work. (job) Start to go after what you want right away. You will see how the school stuff will apply and some of it will become more meaningful. You will see what you can and can’t get without education.

#9 It’s going to be over really soon. All of it.

But still you’ve got time.

You’ve got a lot of friends who care on here. They want the best for you too. Don’t worry too much about the grammar right now. You will probably have to work on that, and it doesn’t have to be too hard. Right now, just focus on making it through school, each day, finding some days to enjoy.

I thought this was very good advice – and it made me think it could be a fun FQotD: What’s the best advice you’ve ever received in general?

Some of the best advice I’ve ever received is very simple – read at least a book a month. Doesn’t have to be literature, can be any book at all, fiction or nonfiction.