If you're like most high school students, you enter your freshman year with a mixture of excitement and nervousness, and you have a whole lot of plans. A lot of teenagers fall into two categories: those that just want to get high school over with, and those that want to experience every little part of it. Whichever of those categories you fall into, or even if you're somewhere in between, here's a list of ten items that everyone should try to do at some point after they walk through the halls on their first day and before they walk out with a diploma.

One: Stay up all night.

Now, some people might already be familiar with the first item on our list. Those who procrastinate and stay up until dawn to get their work done on the date it's due will have done this before. So will those who might get lost in a good book or sucked in to a video game. And though the exhaustion might kick in around one or two in the morning, you'll get a second wind and be able to pull it off. There's something gratifying about being able to stay awake for 24 full hours, especially if you spend part of that night outside when the rest of the people around you are sleeping. Get a group of friends together and have a good old fashioned sleepover, without the sleeping, so you have the moral support. (It might even prepare you for the all-nighters you could face in college.)

Two: Try to make the team.

You don't have to be the best athlete to try out for the team, but if you enjoy a sport and never try out for your school's team, you'll always wonder if you could have done it. And if sports aren't your thing, there's always drama, choir, speech and debate, even scholastic teams that compete. Try out for something that you're interested in. If you don't make the team, at least you can say you tried, and if you do, you might just have found a fun activity for the next few years. And if it turns out you hate it, you can always choose something else the next school year.

Three: Visit your guidance counselor.

There's this stigma attached to visiting a school counselor. People tend to think that you only need to visit the counselor when you have a problem, when you are in serious need of guidance, or when you are sent there against your will. Not true. Little known fact: if you apply for college, your guidance counselor has to write you a recommendation. It'll be pretty hard for him/her to extol your virtues to the college admissions office of your choice if they've never met you. So, even if you only go in once to touch base, discuss your class schedule, or anything else you want to talk about, it just might serve you well by the time you're ready to graduate.

Four: Go to a football game.

Or a swim meet or a dance competition. Whichever sport it is your school seems to enjoy spotlighting. Or maybe, go to a game for the sport that people don't pay as much attention to. Even if you aren't a fan. It isn't necessarily about the game itself; it's about the atmosphere. Go with a group of friends, hang out in the stands, and have a good time. Even those students with the least school spirit can have fun at something like the Homecoming game if they're hanging out with the right people. You don't even need to remember the score at the end of the night.

Five: Dance.

And this is coming from someone who hates dancing. I only attended one school dance my entire time in high school. It always seemed like I had something better to do those weekends. But I made an exception for my senior Prom. (And if you are someone who abhors dancing, dances, everything remotely related, at least go to your Prom.) School dances aren't just about the dancing. Again, it's about the atmosphere and the people you get to share the experience with. You don't have to stay for the whole dance. You don't even have to actually dance if you don't want to. But it's a giant party with everyone you go to school with, and it's usually away from the school itself. Most high schools will go all out for the bigger dances like Homecoming and Prom, renting out spaces at hotels or conference halls and catering in amazing food. Save up some money. Buy a ticket. And have a good time.

Six: Share your photos.

You only get one chance to experience your teen years, so take lots of pictures. You'll want to have reminders to look back on years from now after your school days are long over. And the best way to do this is to submit photos from each year to your high school yearbook. Not every photo that is submitted gets used, but so many of them do, and yearbook editors always want pictures from students to mix in with the ones the staff members take. Candid photos, photos from field trips, even ones that are taken hanging out with friends that have nothing to do with school, are all great additions to yearbooks. And it gives you and your friends an excuse to actually buy a yearbook at the end of the year. No one buys their yearbook for the professionally taken school picture, after all.

Seven: Party it up.

I'll admit it; I've never really been a partier. I had friends who went to parties a couple of times a week in high school, and I never went. Even the most studious of us need a chance to let our hair down and have a good time though. Even if you aren't one of the “in crowd” you can still make your way to a party or two during the four years you'll spend with your fellow teens. Of course, if you're worried about the kind of crowd you might encounter, or the kind of activities that might be going on, you can always throw one yourself. I wouldn't recommend making a habit out of it, but like I said, you'll need a chance to cut loose once in a while. And if you decide parties aren't really your scene, at least you'll know.

Eight: Ask someone out.

So many people spend high school crushing in silence, waiting for their feelings to be noticed. Far less people actually tell their crush how they feel, or take the extra step and ask them out. So, take a chance. The worst thing that can happen is that you get turned down. And yes, that will hurt, but at least you'll have an answer, and you can move on. The other possibility is that the guy/girl you've had your eye on says yes.

Nine: Pull a prank.

This is one you can probably save for your senior year of school since a lot of high schools have the time honored tradition of a senior prank. A group of seniors get together and plan a practical joke, a creative stunt, and the underclassman don't know when it will happen, just that it will occur sometime before graduation. The stunts can range from the simple, like releasing thousands of crickets in the school hallway, to the truly difficult, like putting your high school up for sale. Of course, the trick is to do something so stealthily that you don't run the risk of getting caught. It's also a good idea to do your research, just in case someone does find you out, and make sure you don't plan a prank that is illegal, or that could get you suspended.

Ten: Skip.

Am I really advising you to skip school? Yes. Just don't make a habit of it. That's why I saved this one for the last slot in my list. Take one mental health day, just to see what it's like. Only one. Feel the rush of breaking the rules for those few hours, then move passed it. Even the most studious of us need a break once in a while. The only day of school I ever truly skipped was spent standing in line with a friend and her sister to get advanced screening tickets for a movie we wanted to see. And it was absolutely worth the work I missed for that one day. Get out in the world, free from teachers and desks and books. If you need help on this, I'm sure you could look to something like Ferris Beuller's Day Off for inspiration.