Using one of my old templates for the heck of it. (if it's not there I'm still writing)

(Read this whole thing, I write about some things that are very imperative to know for highschool. You've read whole books before, you can read a short essay. )

Brother, you're going to be a functioning member of society in 4-5 years. To the Class of '27, society is counting on you to be good, functioning adults. To do that, you need to know some basic things going into highschool. These will help you become a functioning adult when you eventually leave.
The first and most important thing is this: Your schooling up until now doesn't matter. Those mixed-up grades and terrible organization skills? Fix that this summer. Get in the mentality of 'I don't want to do this, but I will for my own sake'. It helps a lot more than you might think, in 8th grade my grades were terrible. Now, I have a 4.0 GPA, or all A's in all classes.
The next thing is also important. Your freshman year matters. If you don't do all your assignments as well as you can, then you won't do it tomorrow. And you won't do it the next, and so on. My point is this: Try and get perfect grades your freshman year, and in the next year your grades won't be terrible at least. In fact, they'll probably be pretty good. I don't know anybody who turned their grades around in highschool, but I know many who turned their grades around transitioning from middle school to highschool.
Another thing you need to know is that organization matters. If you can't find any paper from the past 6 months in your backpack or locker within 5 minutes, then you ain't getting straight A's. Doing this isn't as hard as it sounds though, actually. Just get 10 or so 2-pocket folders (image attached). Designate one folder for every class and put every paper from that class in the folder. Sure, your backpack will be pretty heavy, but isn't it worth it for that sweet, sweet no-decimal GPA?
I know, I've heard the whole 'I'm not going to college so my GPA doesn't matter' thing. It does, though. Job applications with people that have a high GPA are far more likely to be accepted than those with a low GPA, even if the job doesn't require anything academic. This is because it shows that you're willing to do what it takes to succeed. Plus, if you ever change your mind about college, your shitty early years won't be a problem because you got good grades then.

(continued in reply)

Getting your assignments in on time is probably one of the most important parts of highschool all the way through, a 5/10 on an assignment is better than a 0/10 on an assignment because you didn’t turn it in. A 0/10 can single-handedly destroy your grade in that class whilst a 5/10 or even a 4/10 won’t.
Now that we're done with the academic section, I'll talk about the social part. Your peers are going through as much stress as you are on the first day. Make some new friends. Plus, people in highschool are more chill than in middle school. If you find a group of like-minded people, nobody cares if you’re socially awkward so long as you’re genuine.
The teachers are also more chill in highschool. Trust me, they’re authentically good people. If you go into their room at break to chill, they’re fine with it usually. If you’re very good friends with a teacher, some of them might give you some leeway in grading assignments as well. I had a paper graded that was probably only B quality, but my teacher gave me an A because I was good friends with her and she understood I was trying to get a 4.0 GPA. This was toward the end of the trimester, and it was the last big assignment. It single-handedly saved my grade. (life-hack: If your teacher’s room doesn’t have windows, they enjoy it when you bring in a small plant or something. It could be a fuсking uprooted dandelion haphazardly transplanted into a cheap plastic pot, those windowless teachers don’t see green all day. Trust me, they appreciate it. Just don’t make it so shitty that it looks like you’re trying to insult them).
To finish this pointless essay that only three of you will read, the teachers that are also sports coaches are the best. They generally don’t care if you show up a few seconds late for class, leave a minute or two early, or play video games when you’re done with your work. Plus, they usually don’t know as much about computers, so you’ll do more hands-on stuff.

In case you ignored the message at the start, here’s a TL;DR:
Get good grades, turn in your shit on time, don’t be a diсk. Very important.

thanks broski

thanks bro as an 8th grader this really helps

also hey i just realized we have the same profile pick

It's easier than you think, by the way. Don't sweat it.

thank you

Thx man, for taking the time to type all that just to help us.

20 minutes of time to potentially help the class of '27 a bit? What would you do with the knowledge?

Well I probably wouldn't write that much haha.

Thank you in advance for reading this.

High school may be tough, take it from me, a freshman, but no matter what happens, there will always be someone there to help you, to guide you, to steer you away from all of the badness of the people, friends. Even if I don't have any, yet, doesn't mean that making them is hard, it just means that you have to go that extra mile and be willing to let others with different views on things into your personal circle.
So far my grades are all 90's or higher, I want you to get these grades, even if no one believes in you, I do.

May God be with you and bless you.
Have a nice time in high school.

Just find a group of dudes who are relatively chill and hang out with them.

Thank you for that, the one thing I am (slightly less) worried about high-school was my grades slipping.

As long as you get everything in on time it'll probably be fine.