Everyone knows it’s hard transitioning from elementary school to middle school – except it’s not. New middle-schoolers are almost always stereotyped as helpless little babies who can’t do anything without 24/7 protection and guidance. That’s not entirely true. Every so often, there’s a handful of students who freeze under the built-up pressure of middle school, but most of the time it’s all good. Many 6th graders I know do just fine because they know the following five things.

1. “I need to get my crap together!”
Middle school is all about organization. The most prominent difference about middle school is that your number of classes is multiplied by eight! It can be hard to juggle another seven classes, but with a good deal of planning everything runs smoothly. For me, organizing my locker helped me get to class quicker since my materials were more easily accessible.  My accordion folder was a kind of heaven on earth that separated each class’ assignments while still keeping them in one convenient location. Little tips and tricks like this help mastery of middle school happen a lot faster. Once a functional system for organization is developed, you’ll be a pro in no time.

2. “What’s different about middle school? Um…NOTHING.”
That’s right! Better sound the alarm and alert everyone you know because this a cold, hard, fact. Let’s do a quick comparison of what happens in middle school vs. elementary school. In middle school, you go to a couple classes, eat, visit your locker, go to a couple more classes, and you’re done. What’s different from elementary school? Now you have a convenient place to keep your stuff, and you have plural classes instead of a singular class. Isn’t that just terrifying? The problem with middle school is that adults (and the media) freak kids out by blowing everything way out of proportion. They make it sound so challenging and scary. But now the beans have spilled: nothing is wrong with middle school. Nothing at all.

3. “Elementary school was a bit condescending.”
If you though elementary school was a bit iffy, then you’ll probably love middle school. The problem with elementary school is that there are kindergarteners everywhere. That means every adult in the school is always in “Kindergarten Mode” and they treat anything and everything that breathes like a kindergartener no matter what. Even if you’re a top-of-the-food-chain, 11-year-old, 5th grade-gangster, you still get babied. Once you reach middle school (and break that helpless, 6th grader stereotype), everything’s all good and you’ll hopefully be treated with respect.

4. “Maturity exists in middle school.”
Although limited, it does exist. This means that even if you are a bit flustered and you’re having a hard time transitioning to middle-school, no one’s going to laugh in your face and judge you. In fact, in my experience, it was precisely the opposite. There are many people in middle school who, rather than laugh in your face, would much rather help you get settled. There’s teachers, administrators, veteran 7th and 8th graders, and even some 6th graders who have seen the light and understand all the secrets of success. There’s no need to be afraid of unpreparedness; there will be an army of people who want to help turn that confusion into confidence. Which brings me to my final point.

5. “I can do this.”
The ultimate secret to success in middle school is knowing you’ll be able to figure everything out in time. Overall, maintaining or gaining a strong sense of confidence in yourself will get you through. Set your mind on success, believe in yourself, and put in a reasonable amount of effort, and you’ll breeze through middle school like it’s nobody’s business. You can do this!