Mr. Beem’s 10 Keys to Success in High SchoolAnd Beyond

10. Don’t Procrastinate

When you have something to get done, Mr. Beem has lived by the adage “Work First, Play Later.” While this cuts in on some of

your fun, you have low stress enjoyment of life and you get things done to (1) succeed in school, (2) make money, (3) serve other people.

9. Think About Your Goals…What job do you want to have?

Do you want to go to college? Where? What kind of life do you want to live? These are the things you should be

thinking about NOW. While you are not locked in with these kinds of decisions, you can start to make decisions that help you achieve what you want, instead of leaving the halls of Tremper High and wondering what you want to do with your life.

8. …And Pursue Your Goals

Work hard to get the things that you want.

Don’t do the minimum. Do your best.

You won’t get everything you want in life, but you can go farther and do more than you ever imagined with hard work and perseverance.

8. …And Pursue Your Goals (cont.)

If you want to go to college: 1. Decide what you want to study

(What is your long term goal? What can you do as a job that you will enjoy and provide you the money you need to survive?)

2. Find colleges that have the major you want to study.

3. Decide which college will be the right fit. (What college has a good reputation? Best program? Financially makes sense? Good campus atmosphere)

7. Academics Count. Always Pursue

Learning.Your grades are important. Your GPA and particular

grades on transcripts will help you or harm you at the college level. Get the best grades you can to give you more options!

Beyond grades, always pursue learning. There is so much in this world to discover, enjoy, and to be struck with awe. Don’t let the wonders of the world pass you by. Explore, learn, and create!

6. Ask for Help and NEVER GIVE UP

Ask for Help: If you don’t know how to do something, don’t fall into the trap of being too embarrassed or too prideful to ask for help. If a teacher (or someone else) can help you understand something, you have just gained the freedom to use that knowledge or skill you have learned to your benefit in the future.

6. Ask for Help and NEVER GIVE UP (cont.)

Never Give Up: We all stumble and fall in life. We make mistakes, and we fail. After you fail, learn from your failure, get up, and keep going. You have the rest of life to learn and grow. You will fail again, but you can also have many successes. Don’t cheat yourself out of the opportunity to get up and turn your failure into success.

5. Build Your Reputation

The things you do, the actions you take, will be seen by other people. This will cause people to form an opinion of you. While you should not do things purely to make other people happy, your actions will reflect on you for better or worse, so make sure the actions you take reflect well instead of poorly.

If you have a good reputation, it opens doors of opportunity in many realms of life. If you have a bad reputation, it closes doors of opportunity. Which do you want?

4. Save Money

Life costs money. College costs a LOT of money. Save money now so you have freedom to make decisions in the future.

Also, putting money in a savings account means that the bank will give you interest, which is FREE MONEY just for holding your money in the bank.

3. Learn Skills

Become good at something that you can do as a job. Why? To help you to get a job when you need one. You are paid for the things you can do. Become useful, which will (again) give you choices and options in the future.

Top 10 in demand skills (From Forbes, 2013): 1. Critical Thinking, 2. Complex Problem Solving, 3. Judgment and Decision Making, 4. Active Listening, 5. Computers and Electronics, 6. Math, 7. Operations and Systems Analysis, 8. Monitoring, 9. Programming, 10. Sales and Marketing.

2. Own Your Life. Be Responsible

After High School, your life is what you make of it. Start practicing now. Day to day living. Paying bills. Working. Raising a family. These are just a few of the responsibilities that you will have as an adult. Be organized in your life now and take care of the things that are on your plate now to be ready for when that set of responsibilities comes to you.

1. Make Wise Choices

Actions have Consequences. This is a reality. Sometimes the consequences are harsh. Sometimes they are wonderful. Sometimes, the consequences are minor. Regardless, if you make good choices, the consequences of your actions will be much better than if you make poor choices.

Respect the law. Think about what will or what will most likely happen when you do something, and decide what to do accordingly. This will save you a lot of stress, pain, and heartache in life, and may also lead to a lot of good things as well.

Best of luck to you all in the future!