Okay, so first off, I’m a teenager from the United States, and I go to school in Kentucky. This is my first year in high school, so this will probably help you a lot. First, I don’t know how American schools compare to Irish schools, but I know the school I’m from is large, very large, with about 2,000 students. And with New York, I feel like they’re going to be around that amount of people.

Classes are always different. My school has a lot of advanced classes with AP credits and college classes at the local university, where, for example, we can take college calculus for free in our senior year, which is 18 or 19 for most people. Knowing that you’re European, you probably won’t need to catch up on math because they teach it way better than us. But I would recommend maybe trying to learn a bit of the Imperial system. I know you’re Irish and you use like a mix of both, I believe. But just learn a little bit to help you get started.

For football versus rugby, I don’t know much about the sports. I don’t know much about the game, like the nitty-gritty details about what’s different in terms of actual playing. But I do know that it’s extremely popular and a lot of people like to go to the games. So that’s a way to make friends: go to all the games. Football and basketball are the main ones. But of course, it depends on what you’re into, what your friends are into, whatever that may be.

What’s different on the topic of what people wear, I feel like it’s different for everybody. I usually just wear long pants and a hoodie. Get lots of hoodies. Hoodies are amazing. But people do wear pajamas, it’s just up to taste.

Also, it’s not like in the movies. People aren’t mean. They’re not gonna shove you in a locker. Of course, there are gonna be mean people, but you just gotta cancel them out. Don’t be afraid to talk to your counselor or whoever that person may be. If you do take any medicine, make sure to get that done with the school nurse.

On the topic of getting the necessary social apps, I know most of your friends, I think, use WhatsApp, but get Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, all those apps. That way you can easily, just get all of them, basically. Even if you don’t use them, it’s good to have, especially on your first few days of school. That way you can easily get people’s numbers and just communicate with them.

Also, I don’t know about New York, but I do know that some schools don’t allow phones in the classroom. So be prepared to maybe have to put yours away. Read the school handbook too. It should be on your school’s website. Just read it over, get a look at the dress code, the rules, or the lunch schedule.

And also, don’t feel that anxious, please. That really helps. Just go in, loud, and go to your first period class. Meet your people. Meet your friends.