Below is an article I wrote for this month’s Romeo Peach. Normally I wouldn’t pre-release an article like this but since we had printing issues and it related to the start of school… here’s a taste test. (This is article #2, I’ll up article #1 after the release of the Peach.
September means one thing to most students. Summer is officially over! The lazy days
of summer come to a crashing halt on September 4th. As you get ready
for those first few days of class, it’s good to think about some strategies
that will get you started off on the right track.
- Get more sleep. Many middle school
and high school students get used to strange sleep schedules in summer.
For most, 2:00 AM has become a normal crash time. Here’s the thing. During adolescence you need to average 9
hours sleep per night for your brain to work at 100%. So, if your alarm is
set for 6:00 AM, that means that you need to average going to bed at 9:00
PM in order to be 100%. - Choose a good attitude. Believe it
or not, you won’t have a perfect schedule and you won’t like all your
teachers. Succeeding in life isn’t about having the best atmosphere all
the time, sometimes it’s about choosing to make the best out of your
situation. It’s a guarantee that you will learn more if you choose to
think positively about your classes. When you make the choice, no
circumstance can change your attitude. - Start off strong. Most of your
grades will be based on averages. It’s a misconception to hear “Everyone
starts off with an A” as that’s not how averages are determined. Your
grade starts off by your first assignment as that establishes your average
grade for the class. If you earn a good mark with the first assignment
you’re off to a good start while getting a bad grade will lead to you
playing catch up the rest of the quarter. - Set realistic goals. Start with
one big goal. With that one goal in mind think out the steps it will take
to get there. This will give you a series of “mini-goals” that will help
you make little successes along the
way to your big goal. - Don’t do everything. In high
school there are two major mistakes made that make life miserable. First,
as freshmen, students try to continue playing a club sport while also
playing a high school sport. Don’t even try it. Your body is growing too fast
to try to do that much and you’ll end up hurting yourself. Second, seniors
try to hold onto high school by doing everything they’ve always wanted to
do. This is a mistake too as you’ll be too busy to actually enjoy your
senior year! Instead, decide now the few things that you’d like to do
really well this year and stick to them.
Going back to school is an exciting time. With any “change
of life schedule” you have the chance to re-evaluate your life and start over.
This time of year you can start new healthy habits and get rid of old unhealthy
ones. By putting these five suggestions to use, you are guaranteed to have a
successful school year.
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