Social Butterfly or Wall Flower?

High school is one of the best times to work on ones social skills! High school isn’t all about the grades, and although grades and academics should be your main focus, making yourself social though is also a very important aspect of your high school years!
There are many ways in high school to be social. Some can be simply eating lunch with a group to attending school related functions such as football/basketball games or dances. By doing these things you cannot only make many friends, but also develop social skills that seem to be critical these days when looking for any sort of job. Looking at almost any job, you interact with people on a different number of levels and while some may interact with people more than others, social skills still seem to be a critical skill for those who are entering the work force.
Of course, there is a point where a high schooler can become ‘too social’. When a student begins to slip academically this is when parents should step in and draw lines that their student shouldn’t be allowed to pass. Academics and school should come before all the other stuff because ultimately your academic record is going to get you somewhere, not how many parties you attended.Another thing to be cautious of is pictures from parties that are posted online.I have heard that many schools have been looking at potential students’ Myspace and Facebook pages to see what the student is like outside of school and having pictures of you doing things such as drinking and other activities that are frowned upon may not be the best thing! So make sure if you do stuff like that, that pictures and such aren’t posted to where schools can see them because this may harm your chances of being accepted.
So although I may urge you to be social and develop your social skills, realize that being social shouldn’t cut into your academics. Set your own boundaries, because you know your boundaries the best! Finding balance between school and social activities when boundaries are developed will come even easier.