Work, Work, Work

High school is probably the most anticipated of all of our lives, but what I was not expecting was the work.

Before high school, I had never studied, yet I did well in school. What I did not realize that high school was much much different.

August 25 came rolling around and all my teachers assured me that their classes would not be too stressful, but I soon found myself behind. I was struggling to make new friends and catching up on all my work. Before finding a balance, I had no idea what I would do.

This year, my freshman year, I took two APs, Seminar, and World History. At first, I slacked off on my work by turning in work late and making up excuses. I soon realized that my grades were also following this trend, slowly declining. My parents, being the typical parents, expected the best out of me. When they saw that I lost focus on school work, they decided to take a step forward.

It was the week right after homecoming week, trying to make the best out of my school year, I ended up ignoring all my work and instead focused on partying and going out with my friends. What I didn’t expect was for my parents to come in that Thursday morning to talk with my counselor. This meeting was literally life-changing. 

About an hour after my parents had come, I was called out of class to the office. After this experience, I started to fix my study habits. Rather than procrastinating I finish my work done and then continue to have fun.

Finding a balance between work and play is probably the most fundamental aspect of my high school year. By doing so, I had seen that my grades had practically shot up from Bs and Cs to As. I felt much better mentally and realized that although work may seem stressful, it is important to keep a balance.

Another aspect which I personally saw an improvement in was my relationship with my parents. Before, I would hide most of my life from them because of my insecurity that they would question my scores and grades. With the confidence in my work ethics and abilities, I was able to foster a more meaningful connection amongst us.

Something else which I have dealt with in freshman year was my issues with stress. Yes, doing my work did help my grades, but I found myself dealing with so much pressure from handling my AP classes, my homework, other school required projects, and sports. I felt that I had taken upon too much because of my constant strive and idea to be the best. I wanted to make my parents proud by being the best. What I realized was that I could only do this by taking support. Some websites which aided me were Khan Academy, Quizlet, and CK12.

AP exam season rolled around, pretty much stabbing me in the back. I had no idea what periods one and two would contain because I did not focus on the beginning of the year. While watching Youtube videos when I was taking a break from studying, I saw an ad by Amanda, the creator of Fiveable. “Stop binge watching Youtube and join Fiveable!” she said in the ad.

Hopeless, I sighed and clicked on the website and found a bunch of videos. AP exam season, although still stressful, was made much easier when I used these platforms. With my new resources and study skills, studying for exams became a breeze and I no longer dreaded them. In addition, I used my study skills to complete my multiple seminar essays and finally, I am complete with my freshman year. Speaking from experience, every track has hurdles, but if you constantly work towards achieving your final goal you will cross them. 

Looking back, I can say that these experiences have shaped me into becoming the top scoring student I am now. Without those downfalls, I would not have succeeded.