As a fellow Kiwi who has just left High School for Uni, I tend to agree with most of the points made here. Get into extracurricular activities! When you know you have true friends, don't let petty arguments break these friendships. Be confident, bullies don't bother people who look like they don't care. Plus teachers like confident students. Don't get lazy about your work, year 9 and 10 require more work than year 7 and 8, and it won't get easier, so if you don't pay attention in these years, learning for NCEA will be tough. Lastly, don't get in to smoking weed or tobacco, it's become far more common recently, when all it does is cost you money and ruin your health. Really not cool.