Black student in dark blue T-shirt with laptop under arm walking by building

Video: How to Survive High School and Find Scholarships

High school is stressful, and there's so much to get done. Here are a few tips to help you survive high school and some extra tips on finding scholarships.

High school is a stressful time—sometimes it can be so overwhelming that you’re not sure if you’ll make it. Luckily, student vlogger Fatimata has some tips that will help ease some of the stress you’re feeling so you can make it through high school without completely breaking down.

Surviving high school

To-do lists (0:25)

Make sure you have an agenda or a piece of paper where you have a list of things you want to accomplish as the day goes on. Having that to-do list will help you prioritize what needs to get done and when.

Self-care (0:52)

As a high school student, you have a million things you need to get done in a day: clubs, sports, work, homework—it can be overwhelming. Make sure you carve out some time during the day to take care of yourself too! If you don’t take care of yourself, you won’t have the mental capacity to get everything done.

Focus on your passions (1:17)

Academics are super important, but so is finding your passion. In college, you’ll be studying in preparation for what you want to do for your career—what you want to do with your life. Explore things you’re passionate about now so you have a clear vision about what you might want to dedicate your life to.

Spend time with friends (1:51)

Life is about balance. You need to find time to spend with your friends and have fun too! Don’t forget to take some time away from all your work. Connecting with friends helps you grow your network, and hanging out with your friends doesn’t mean you can’t get stuff done. You could easily work together on homework or other things on your to-do list.

Communicate with your parents (2:24)

Yes, your college experience and the college search are about you. However, you should definitely include your parents in that conversation, because they want to see you succeed and watch you grow up to be who you are. Plus, they can be the best support system you have. Let them be people you can lean on.

Related: How to Discover and Pursue Your Passions as a Student

Finding scholarships in high school

How to find scholarships (3:23)

You can find scholarships in so many places! The internet is chock-full of scholarship opportunities. A simple Google search can return infinite results, your friends may post about scholarships on social media, and local companies advertise scholarships online too—you just have to start searching for scholarships.

Find scholarships that are important to you (3:51)

Fatimata wanted to make her community a better place, and she found a scholarship that would reward her for doing exactly that. If you’re involved in community service, or if you have a cause you’re involved in, look into what kinds of scholarships you can get for it.

Apply if it’s what you want (5:12)

Don’t discourage yourself from applying to any scholarships, colleges, jobs—anything. You never know what will happen, and you can’t get the things you want if you don’t reach for them.

Related: How to Turn Your Hobbies Into Scholarships With Ease

High school is an exciting and formative time in your life, so make sure you’re taking an active part in it by enjoying the time you have but also preparing for your future. Follow these tips for a smoother high school experience (and hopefully, some scholarship money along the way).

Find millions of dollars in awards for students of all ages with our Scholarship Search tool!

Like what you’re reading?

Join the CollegeXpress community! Create a free account and we’ll notify you about new articles, scholarship deadlines, and more.

Join Now

Tags:

About CollegeXpress

CollegeXpress

Welcome to CollegeXpress, your one-stop college shop! We’re a free college planning website used by millions of college-bound students, parents, and counselors—anyone who needs help navigating the college search and application process, financial aid opportunities, and more. 

You’ll find comprehensive College Search and Scholarship Search tools, tons of articles and expert advice, unique college Lists & Rankings, and lots of other resources to help make your life easier. Teen Vogue even named us one of the 7 Best College Search Websites!

Current college students and recent grads also love CollegeXpress for our Graduate Program Search tool and endless information on student life, internships, and beyond. We really have something for everyone, no matter where you are in your college journey.

Create a free CollegeXpress account to start connecting with colleges, winning scholarships, and simplifying your life as a student!

 

Join our community of
over 5 million students!

CollegeXpress has everything you need to simplify your college search, get connected to schools, and find your perfect fit.

Join CollegeXpress

College Quick Connect

Swipe right to request information.
Swipe left if you're not interested.

Miami University

Oxford, OH


Hannah Nelsen

Hannah Nelsen

High School Class of 2022

CollegeXpress has helped me look at colleges that fit my interests by taking my profile and matching it to colleges that have the programs I'm looking for. It has the ability to connect me to colleges so I can be contacted by them and look at them more in-depth to find what's right for me. Additionally, the scholarship database is super beneficial for getting scholarships for college. Not only does it help lift the financial burden of college but it shows all the opportunities available. Overall, CollegeXpress has been very helpful to me.

Maria  Fernanda

Maria Fernanda

High School Class of 2023

CollegeXpress is always telling you with time to spare when to apply for certain scholarships, what they require, and if you’re eligible or not. They also provide helpful tips for both incoming college students and current college students, such as what to absolutely have in your dorm.

Melanie Kajy

Melanie Kajy

High School Class of 2021

CollegeXpress has helped me tremendously during my senior year of high school. I started off using the college search to find more information about the universities I was interested in. Just this tool alone gave me so much information about a particular school. It was my one-stop shop to learn about college. I was able to find information about college tuition, school rank, majors, and so much more that I can't list it all. The college search tool has helped me narrow down which college I want to attend, and it made a stressful process surprisingly not so stressful. I then moved to the scholarship search tool to find scholarships to apply for because I can't afford to pay for tuition myself. The search tool helped me find scholarships that I was eligible for. The tool gave me all the information I could ever need about a particular scholarship that was being offered. The CollegeXpress scholarship search tool is so much better than other tools offered, like the Chegg scholarship search. Thanks to CollegeXpress, I was able to apply to tons of scholarships in a relatively easy way!

Yuhlani Patterson

Yuhlani Patterson

High School Student

CollegeXpress has helped me find so many scholarships that fit me. They match me to colleges I have specific interest in to make searching for colleges way easier and more efficient. CollegeXpress refers me to schools that have my major of interest and backup schools if I want to change my mind. CollegeXpress also gives out their own scholarships, so you have even more of a chance at gaining multiple scholarships. This website has helped me de-stress from the pressure of not being able to afford college, [of finding] what schools are right for me, and how to find easy access to scholarships that most people never knew existed.

Cameron Lee

Cameron Lee

High School Class of 2022

I used CollegeXpress to search for colleges. It helped me narrow down the schools on the West Coast and which schools had Construction Engineering programs. I made my decision to go to OSU and I am so excited about it.