A really lazy senior gives advice to underclassmen
Ashley Cameron
Junior students studying in Ms. Goss’s class
From the moment they set foot into high school, students are barraged by parents or teachers barrage with “helpful tips” that just end up stressing us out. So as my high school experience comes to an end, I’ve decided to compile a little list of tips that I wish I had really listened to.
1. You do need to study, even if you think you don’t. No matter how confident you feel in your grasp of the information, you need to go over it again and again to cement it in your mind.
2. Don’t blow off your homework. Ever. You’re going to want to blow it off some nights. DO NOT. You blow it off one day, you’re going to try to justify blowing it off every day. It never takes as long as you think it will.
3. Don’t forget about assignments in electives. If you search through this very website, you will see few contributions from me. This is because first semester I idiotically decided to focus just on core classes. Now I have to deal with the grade in my elective pulling my GPA down.
4. Get enough sleep every night. Yes, every night. That one night Netflix marathon is going to lead to your not being able to focus the next day, which is going to drag you down for the rest of the week. If you can’t manage eight hours a night, at least get six. Anything less and you’re just going to feel like crap.
5. Once they’re down, grades are near impossible to pull back up. I’ve spent too much time trying to salvage failing grades that could easily have been avoided. The second your grades start to dip below an 80, find a friend to tutor you. Block the most distracting websites on your computer. Turn your phone off. Do anything you can to focus on getting that grade up so that when the semester is three weeks from ending, you aren’t trying to pull a 48 up to a 70.
6. School is for learning. Not socializing. Now I’m not saying chatting with your friends isn’t all right, but don’t whisper and text your classes away. You can always hang out on the weekends and talk then.
These are just a few things I really wish I had done starting freshman year, but hopefully underclassmen can learn from my mistakes.
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