🌳 Welcome to Freshman Year: Planting Strong Roots for High School
Ninth grade marks the beginning of a whole new season. You’ve stepped into high school—and this year is all about planting strong roots. The choices you make now will shape your future growth. It’s a year for discovering your strengths, building new habits, and starting fresh with a mindset that will carry you through the next four years.
This is your chance to learn how high school works, build strong relationships, and explore all that’s ahead. With the right support and a strong foundation, you can thrive.
🧭 School Counselor: A Partner on Your Journey
Your school counselor is here to support your transition into high school. They can help you:
- Build a 4-year academic plan that aligns with your goals
- Understand what’s expected in high school and how grading works
- Navigate social challenges and strengthen emotional resilience
- Begin exploring career pathways and interests
Don’t wait until you’re overwhelmed—get to know your school counselor now and use them as a guide throughout high school.
— Explore each key area of personal growth and health below. These are like the roots of a tree—when they are strong, you are too.
🌱 Physical Health
A strong tree needs a healthy trunk and branches—your physical health supports everything else you do. Explore tips for sleep, nutrition, exercise, and more:
🔗 Healthy Children – Teen Health
🌙 Sleep
Sleep fuels growth, learning, and resilience. Teens need 8–10 hours a night—don’t shortchange this vital root system.
🔗 Sleep Foundation – Teens and Sleep
💻 Digital Wellbeing
How we use technology shapes our minds and hearts. Cultivate a healthy digital environment with these tools:
🔗 Center for Humane Technology
🔗 Common Sense Media
💬 Mental Health
Mental and emotional wellness is like the inner bark of a tree—it protects and sustains you. Reach out, reflect, and take care of yourself:
🔗 The Jed Foundation
🔗 Child Mind Institute
🕊️ Spiritual Health
Your spiritual life is a deep root that grounds your identity, purpose, and connection. Whether through prayer, reflection, service, or community, nurturing this area brings peace and direction. Start by exploring opportunities within your faith community or nearby youth groups.
💰 Financial Stability
Just like roots provide a stable foundation for a tree, managing your money wisely lays the groundwork for a secure future. Learning to budget, save, and avoid unnecessary debt is crucial as you step into adulthood.
🔗 Ramsey Solutions – Teach Teenagers About Money
🏃 Exercise for Teens
Regular exercise strengthens your body and mind, boosting energy, focus, and mood. The CDC recommends teens get at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily.
🔗 CDC – Recommendations for Youth
🍎 Nutrition for Teens
Proper nutrition fuels your growth and helps maintain energy and focus throughout the day. Eating a balanced diet with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins is key during your teen years.
🔗 ChooseMyPlate – Healthy Eating
🔗 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics – Nutrition for Teens
📘 The 7 Habits for Teens
Based on Stephen Covey’s bestselling book, the 7 Habits teach teens practical skills for personal leadership, responsibility, and success. These habits encourage building strong character and healthy relationships.
- Be Proactive: Take responsibility for your actions and choices.
- Begin with the End in Mind: Set clear goals and plan ahead.
- Put First Things First: Prioritize important tasks over urgent distractions.
- Think Win-Win: Seek mutually beneficial solutions in relationships.
- Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood: Listen empathetically before sharing your viewpoint.
- Synergize: Collaborate to achieve better results than alone.
- Sharpen the Saw: Take care of yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
🔗 FranklinCovey – The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens
🎭 Extracurricular Activities
Your involvement outside of class helps shape who you are. Whether it’s sports, arts, volunteering, robotics, or work—do what matters to you. Find your lane and give it your best. We encourage quality over quantity.
— Take time to explore these tools below that will that help you reflect, discover, and plan for your future.
It’s so important to start with the big picture—where you are now and where you’re going next. The big question you may be facing is:
“What am I going to do after high school?”
Your school counselor is a key partner in helping you explore this. They may offer a variety of tools and resources tailored to you. Here are some that many students find incredibly helpful:
🛣️ Roadtrip Nation
This site offers an inspiring free course to help you explore your interests, values, and career paths through videos and guided reflection. It even includes an opportunity to interview someone working in a field you’re curious about.
🔗 Roadtrip Nation – Discover Your Path
🧭 Career Interest Assessment
Tools like My Next Move can help you explore your interests and match them to potential careers. It’s a great starting point to see what aligns with your natural interests.
🔗 My Next Move – Career Interest Assessment
🧠 Personality Assessment
Understanding your personality can help you find career fields that align with how you naturally think and interact with the world. The 16 Personalities assessment is a great free resource based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.
🔗 16 Personalities – Discover Your Type
🔬 YouScience
YouScience combines both your interests and aptitudes to provide personalized career suggestions. Many schools offer this tool through their counseling office. If not, you can access it independently with a discount using the affiliate code below.
🔗 YouScience – Explore Your Strengths
💬 Use promotion code: GROWYOURROOTS at checkout for a discount.
👥 Job Shadowing
Spending time observing someone in a real-world job setting is one of the best ways to gain insight into a field. Even if it’s not your dream job, it will help you understand what you do or don’t enjoy—and bring more clarity to what matters most in your future career.
High school may feel like a big step up—and it is! But you don’t have to figure it out alone. The key is to build good habits early:
- Stay organized: Use a planner or digital tool to track homework, tests, and deadlines.
- Ask for help early: Your teachers want to see you succeed. If something doesn’t make sense, ask questions or meet with them for extra help.
- Use your resources:
🔗 Khan Academy – Free tutorials on every subject.
🔗 Quizlet – Flashcards and study tools. - Explore electives: Try out new subjects like art, computer science, or business to discover what excites you.
- Challenge yourself wisely: Choose classes that push you, but not so much that you burn out. Balance is key.
Remember, your freshman year GPA matters—it sets the tone for your transcript. Put in the effort now and your future self will thank you.
High school is about more than just academics—it’s about who you are becoming. Freshman year is a great time to:
- Make new connections by joining clubs, sports, or school activities
- Learn time management to balance school, rest, and friendships
- Practice emotional awareness—talk about your feelings, and listen when others share
- Limit screen time and make space for real-life friendships and activities
Here are some growth skills to focus on:
- 🌱 Growth Mindset – Believe you can improve with effort
🔗 mindsetworks.com - 💞 Empathy – Notice how others feel and respond with kindness
- 🤝 Interpersonal Skills – Learn to resolve conflict, collaborate, and communicate
If you ever feel stuck or alone, reach out. Your teachers, family, and school counselor are here for you.