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Question:
How do you stay motivated?
Advice:
Motivation can be incredibly hard to find. There just never seem to be enough hours in the day to get everything done, and we of course don’t want to spend every minute of the day working. It’s so easy to put things off until the last minute and then use the surge of adrenaline as motivation to finally get it done, however there are many other ways to find motivation that helps us get our work done in a more efficient manner. One way I find motivation is by thinking about the time that I am freeing up later by doing my work now. It's always so nice to just relax after I have finished all of my work knowing that I have nothing left to stress about. However, sometimes this isn’t enough motivation, and that is when I use my long term goals as motivators. Thinking about what all of this hard work will lead you to later can inspire you to keep pushing yourself. We often forget that all of this has a purpose, and that is to set us up for success in the long run.
Question:
A few things I need advice on is how to keep up with the class work when you are constantly being given work in every class. How to get a better understanding in school work if you have never learned it before in middle school. How do you deal with the anxiety and stress of trying to have good grades in all of your classes?
Advice:
It can be really challenging trying to balance all of your high school academics while trying to maintain good mental health. You can spend hours working on homework just to find out that your teacher has posted a new assignment. Knowing that you will never be fully finished with all of your work can be very discouraging, which is why breaks are so important. Lucky for us, CHAMPS has an A/B schedule, which allows us more time to do homework and an extra day to fall back on. I like to pick which days of the week I spend doing homework or studying and which days I take off, in order to make sure I set aside time for myself as well.
High school academics can be a big leap from middle school academics, and when we aren’t given the proper foundation in middle school for what we will be learning in high school, the leap can be even greater. That's when online resources like Quizlet or Khan Academy can be very helpful. Khan Academy has every math topic you can think of, along with videos and quizzes to help you study those topics. Quizlet also has tons of study sets on all sorts of topics, but it also has the option of creating your own study set, that you can then use as flashcards or create tests for yourself. Ultimately, the fastest and most direct way to get a better understanding of the material is to work with your teacher, however, depending on the teacher, this can sometimes be intimidating.
There is constant pressure placed on students to do well, whether that be from parents, teachers, or even peers. Like I said earlier, creating a schedule and using online resources are examples of ways we can help ourselves to be as successful in school as we can. But sometimes no matter how on top of things we are, there is still anxiety around the subject of school. And that is when it is important to strive for the goals we set for ourselves, not the goals others set for us. Only you know what you are capable of, and only you can achieve your goals. Working to make yourself proud rather than trying to please each person's individual expectations for you will take a lot of pressure off your back. Because the most important person to please in your life is yourself. 🐾