For me, school was a ****ty experience, retrospectively. But because I haven't been to school in several months now, I've just kind of forgotten exactly how bad it was. I know that I didn't enjoy my last years of school very much, in fact secondary school was just an overall BAD experience for me and just ruined my self-confidence entirely. But I feel like looking back on it, it could have been worse, and I think I've definitely become a lot stronger now. I got through a tough period of my life (because let's face it, no one really enjoys school), and now I feel like I could just do about anything. And I had very difficult mental health issues, I had bad depression and anxiety earlier on this year but since leaving school I have a lot more confidence. I don't know if this is reassuring to you but, JUST surviving school each day is good enough. It seems like it's never-ending, it beats the crap out of you, but it will honestly be over and done with before you know it. And I think, definitely, 100%, life after secondary school has (so far) been a lot better for me. I've been able to spend it with people I actually like, going out and doing fun things, and having my own "independence" now and not being treated like a child is great. My mental health has really improved.
Everyone has their own tips on how to survive school but, ultimately you need to find your own way of doing it. Just try to make the most of what you have and try to make it a worthwhile experience. I really regret the fact that in my last year of school I isolated myself from a lot of people, I lost a lot of friends, I chose to skip classes, I chose to stay at home most of the time, I would study at home, eat lunch at home, I just hated it, but that was a really hard time for me and, in all honesty, me trying to escape school just made it more of a living hell for me, it used to make me so depressed, and the thing is is that I never told ANYONE how I felt or what I was doing. I never told anyone that I used to skip classes, or that I used to stay home at lunch, because I know people would lecture me and tell me to stay at school and try to hang out with friends. I was hurting myself more. I really regret that. But I studied hard eventually, I got good grades, I started taking medication, and I just pushed myself through it.
My advice to you is, just try to make your last school years worth it. It will be bad, boring, awful, etc, but you need to just make it worth the experience. Don't be afraid to talk to people if you're having a hard time, don't be afraid to chat to new people, to get involved with clubs, to hang out with others, just make the most of it. I didn't and I regret that. I know it's hard because of your mental illness but, I discussed this with my form tutor at school since I really trusted her and she went out of her way to try and help me make my last few months at school more enjoyable. I don't know if you have a teacher like that or even just a friend or classmate you really trust, just tell them how you're feeling, because they can help you and will help you if you ask. If you say "I'm struggling to keep on top of school work, so can you help me find ways to manage my workload?" they will help. If you say "I'm having trouble making friends" you can ask "so are there any clubs I can join or is it possible I could organise a study group for people doing this subject" or just something like that, just reach out and ask for help. Doing things on your own is daunting but having someone else there can just alleviate the stress a little bit. It's something that you can take on together.
But anyway, I promise you, even if school turns out ****ty, whatever comes afterwards will be a better experience. It'll be a fresh start and hopefully by this point people might have grown up a bit since leaving secondary school or high school. If you ever need any help or just want someone to listen to then please feel free to PM me. Honestly, I had a really hard time at school and it makes me emotional to remember it sometimes, but I know if I could go back I'd do things differently.
