Hey Josh

The same thing happens to me!
When I think I’ve done real well on a project or something, I really want people to notice how much effort I put into it.
When I don’t get recognition I start to not put as much effort into what I do because I start thinking “What’s the point?”

This caused my grades to slip and I procrastinated more and more as the school year went on.
My poor grades motivated me to do my best even and spend a lot of time on my work- even if it was a really stupid assignment.

Sure uplifting comments give you an ego boost, but think the only “recognition” you need is from yourself. If you’re confident in your work it doesn’t matter what others think because you know you worked freaking hard!

Grace, there is actually an early college program that allows you to skip right out of high school and earn college credits without having gotten a diploma. It is called Bard College at Simon’s Rock and was one of the greatest experiences of my life. http://simons-rock.edu/

I applied there back in 2005/2006, and went there from 2006 to 2008 on a full tuition merit scholarship. If you apply for one of the scholarship programs, it is well worth it. But it’s even a good idea just to look at it and see if that might be what you are interested in. While there is not a whole lot of individual recognition in terms of awards and what not, you have class sizes ranging from 10 to 20, and get to know your professors on a one-on-one basis. It’s a the best place that I know where learning is truly valued. If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to ask. I’d highly recommend it.

Grace, it doesn’t matter what the outside world thinks about you. It’s what YOU think about you. A lot of people get like this. They start thinking “What’s the point? My work’ll just get thrown to the side and HIS/HER crappy work will get put on a shelf and labeled ‘Best Work Ever’!” Well, while that may be true, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still work hard. High School is where you do A LOT of your learning for further on in life. This is where you build character. And time for one of my favorite quotes:

“Success builds character. Failure reveals it.”

Remember, your thoughts matter more than theirs. If you live by trying to gain gratitude from others, you’ll never be happy. You’ll just be another idiot who tries to make others happy and never yourself. Don’t be that idiot. Be a genius. Only geniuses can overcome these obstructions and really, truly succeed in life.

Succeed in life.

@Mackenzie, I procrastinate A LOT Though, I still get A+’s :-/ I don’t know. It’s just me Don’t procrastinate if you can’t do it and keep your grades up ^_^ There’s an art to procrastinating. It’s called a schedule. Now, you may just say this is just a way to NOT procrastinate, but there’s the truth. If you don’t have a predetermined schedule, you’re going to fail at succeeding at procrastinating. If you want to put it off AND still get it done on time and correctly, make a schedule. Give time to do it. For example, I have papers due every day for most classes. I have a study hall 3rd period then a shorter 30 minute success study hall from 2:45 to 3:15. I do all of my 4th-8th period home work in my longer, 3rd period study hall and my 1st-2nd period homework in my success study hall. And whatever new homework I get, if I can get to it, during that study hall. This way, I can cut down on what I have for the next day AND still get it done so I’ll have nothing for the night. Because I have to work from 5:00 to 9:00 every night. If I were to give enough advice to show you the key to procrastinating, I’d have written a whole new report! In fact, I did write a report on Procrastination for English Anyways, here’s the key to procrastination:

Smart Procrastination and a Predetermined Schedule.

Remember, procrastination is just putting stuff off. I like to put off a lot, but you know, I always get it done because I schedule myself and lay out my study hall times. It helps A LOT in getting your stuff done. And scheduling will help you learn about how to map your days for the future.

Hope I helped,
James Nhan

Well, high is pretty rough, and dependent on the size of it… well it’s easy to get lost in the mix sometimes. Also, most teachers /want/ to give higher grades to the students who put in effort (my parents were teachers, so I would always hear them as they were grading papers) except school policy wouldn’t let them. You sound like you make sure you get your assignments in on time and that you plan ahead.

My best advice would be to talk to your teacher privately, after class would be best, about the grades you believe you deserve. They may have a reason for not giving them to you, but sometimes they just won’t have a clue that it’s really bothering you. They might give you some extra points once you bring it up, or have you work for them with extra credit, or even go over past assignments with you explaining why you didn’t get the grade you thought you should. No teacher should turn you away, and most would welcome a student showing interest in their grade. Just talk with them, because that’s what they’re there for. Take the initiative here and the rewards ill be great!

I hope this helped!

Grace,
It’s really great that you love to learn and try hard at school, and it’s a shame that you don’t get the recognition you deserve. But in actuality, it isn’t the most important thing. You obviously do well in school, and people know that. Colleges don’t look at the amount of praise you get for your assignments, just the grades. Also, like Josh said, it happens to everyone. So don’t spend all your time obsessing about just getting praised for your good work. It makes you sound a little bit attention-starved.

Grace,
High school sucks for a lot of reasons, this being one of them. Maybe if you make the best of your time while you’re in high school, you’ll forget about the recognition and do the work because you love to. And if you love to learn then go into the topic further and use it in a daily conversation with friends or family, possibly the teacher (without being a suckup).
Anyway, there’s tons of advice on this page so good luck :]

Grace,
High school truly does suck, Im experiencing it first hand. All I can say is that, you know you are great and thats all that matters. You are the person that matters in your life, your heart is what makes your decisions. This whole experience that you are going through is hard, I know, but what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger. After you realize this, then things will get better. Its nice to get compliments, but Its even nicer to know that what you did made you feel good.

I hope this kinda helps. A little point, is that your not alone. Just remember that.

The Bard College isn’t the only place you can do full time college as a High schooler. I’m doing my state’s program, Running Start. I still get to go to a couple of classes at my school, but I will graduate high school with my A.A. degree. Ive noticed that college is a lot less about competing with the people around you for recognition (so that you can have a good application and get into a good college) and more about learning things because they’re going to apply in your life.

Oh my goodness! Thank you to everyone, and Josh, this site is amazing! I can’t believe my post is even on here, but thanks so much for the comments. I guess what I was asking wasn’t how to get credit neccesarily, but how to feel better about the whole situation. So what do you guys do to feel good about yourselves, or to get away from everything? Happy new years!

Grace,
It’s hard to feel good about getting something accomplished when there isn’t anyone giving you credit. But the thing is at this point in your life it doesn’t matter a whole lot. Ok that sounded really bad, lol. What I mean is that high school is such a tiny part of your life and what you are accomplishing makes a difference but on such a smaller scale. I think to make yourself feel better you need to think about what you can do in the future. Accomplishing things now in high school is setting you up for bigger things in your life. If your working hard now and doing well now who knows 10 years from now you could work hard and find the cure for cancer or aids or something and make this huge impact on the world. Yes high school sucks and those who do well usually get ignored but remember high school doesn’t last forever. So the best I can say is be hopeful, and just remember that you will be out soon enough.

Grace; In my town and various other towns there are programs called “Running Start” which allow high school juniors and seniors to participate in actual college courses at nearby community colleges. I myself am running start student and have been able to get a bunch of pre-reqs for Nursing school done with during high school while also earning high school credits to graduate.

I think that a program like this would be a good thing to look into. It’s a fantastic opportunity to learn and get out of the high school environment. Hope that helped a bit. Happy new year!!!

Gracey,
In highschool I came home with report card that had 5 A’s and 1 B. My best report card ever. My dad saw the report card and said “What’s with the B?” I was crushed. Consequently, the remainder of my high school and college years were spent trying to over achieve as much as possible to get all the recognition I could. But I was never satisfied.

What I eventually understood was 2 things:
1) Happiness is a “from the inside-out”, not an “Outside-in” kinda thing. Once I came to grips with why I was working so hard, I was able to let it go and be happy being me. Look there for yourself.

-and-

2) Give more and you’ll receive more. Find other students who aren’t doing as well, and help them become like the studstress you are. Find somewhere you can volunteer for a fwe hours a week. Others will feel good because they got help, and you’ll feel great because you were at the source.
-izzy
johnizzy.com

I didn’t enjoy school until I became involved. Once I joined StuCo and FBLA, I relized that school (and life) isn’t all about grades, but becoming a better person. There isn’t anything more rewarding on the inside than helpind someone out, and finding a club or group that does that would be the key to happiness.

Grace i feel your pain. i am a very smart guy but i am a bad test taker. so i when i get bad grades i get yelled at and lectured to by my parents. but i know the material. i got so mad that i stopped trying and i started failing, but when my high school threatened to kick me out i got my act together. and i am know getting A’s. i guess what im trying to say is keep trying something will give, and things will turn around. I promise you.

– Travis

its not your falt you dont get credit for working your but off but its up to you to change that stand up for your self dont just stand around goin unheard..

School recognition is trivial, because just like everywhere else in life, Teachers have their favorites. It will be the same with the CEOs (Head-Honchos) of any company you work for.

You have to be a leader, I admit a couple of years ago when i was your age I had no idea how to do that. Now, I am the Captain of My high school rugby team, Event though i don’t get recognition academically, (mainly because my school has IB.) There are other areas in life that I do. That being said, there are other areas in life that you can get recognition.