Set Goals
Have you started your senior year yet? A lot of schools around the nation have already had their first day of school, some won’t begin until after Memorial Day. The first day of school is always exciting. You have to get your picture taken for your ASB card, pick up your class schedule and compare it to your friend’s schedules to see if you’re sharing any classes with each other or if you got the worst teacher on the school for Biology. Your notebook is new, the paper clean and smooth and not at all marked yet with notes or doodles. It’s a clean start, a fresh slate for you. Make the most of it!
One way to make the most of it is to set a goal for your grades and studying. Make a schedule so you don’t lose important and valuable time by spending five hours beating Halo when you should be studying for that chemistry exam.
Yes, it’s time to go back to school and back to responsibility. While it’s not always the most fun you can have, it is very important. When you do your best, when you work your hardest and get that A or A+ you have a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment. It’s yours and yours alone. You did this, you worked for it and made it happen. Nothing can take that away from you, unless you allow it to happen.
There are a great many things pulling you in many directions during your senior year in high school. You’ve got to maintain your high grade point average by studying and doing well on tests, you have to prepare to take the SAT if you haven’t already done so, you might have a senior project that you need to finish for graduation and you might even be involved in sports or other extracurricular activities that are all calling for your time. We all have only 24 hours in each day and by cramming as much into it as possible it’s easy to become stressed, lose sleep and lapse into unhealthy eating habits all in the name of saving time. Don’t let this happen to you.
It’s a good idea to schedule your study time, just as you would a doctor’s appointment or a class. If you don’t set aside some time for your SAT prep, the it could quite easily fall through the cracks and be forgotten. Get a notebook calendar or use your electronic blackberry or simply write it down on a piece of paper, but DO write it down. It’s easy to overlook if it’s not written down.
If you have friends who are preparing for the SAT as well, you might want to schedule a block of time during the week to get together and study. You can quiz each other on vocabulary and math and practice writing essays. However you study, make sure you have a set time for it and don’t let it slide behind playing video games or surfing the Internet for hours. If you have problems losing track of time when you’re online it might be a good idea to have a timer with you. Set it for an hour and when it goes off, stand up and walk away from your computer. It’s easy to sit there instant messaging with friends and posting on myspace and before you know it, four hours have gone and you have nothing to show for it. Use the timer, or have your parents clock you. However you want to do it, time yourself. Make time for the really important things. I’m not saying that relaxing isn’t important because it is very important. What I’m saying is that you need balance and if you’re spending an inordinate amount of time on one thing and ignoring other areas of your life, then you need to reevaluate your habits.
In my next blog I’ll give you some ideas that will help you deal with the stress of being a senior and having so much on your plate right now.
