Like I promised, here’s my next post! So here is how things are going:

I love all the classes I’m taking! This was the first year that I had complete choice over all the classes I get to take, and let me tell you, that is one of the best feelings ever. Only one of the classes I’m taking is required for my graduation; everything else I completed beforehand. How did I get so much space in my schedule? Well I took several classes in my middle school years that allowed me to get ahead in high school. I’m not necessarily saying you should do this too, though. The only caveat is that if you rush through or skip over a class, you might miss important concepts that will bite you later. That is not a situation you want to be in. For me, specifically, I was able to skip some classes in math and Spanish. This allowed me to take high level math courses and finish AP Spanish Lang by the end of 10th grade. On top of that, I took courses over the summer. These courses should be the ones you are not willing to take over the school year and the ones that most likely won’t come back to bite you. These are also the graduation requirements that I didn’t want to take but still had to, things like Health and PE. That also made room in my school year schedule. 

Here’s something that happened last month: the SAT!! Yeah, that wasn’t very fun. Preparation for it takes a lot of effort and people tend to procrastinate on studying (especially me). I kind of regretted waiting for the last opportunity to take it because I knew this was my last chance ever to do as well as I wanted. Another thing is that you probably don’t want to take it sometime during the school year when you know you’ll be busy. That leads to putting off your SAT studying even more. Or putting off your homework. Or both. (This all applies to any standardized test) Lesson learned: don’t be like me.

And for all the overachieving children like me, let me tell you something that might make you freak out. Don’t apply for so many leadership positions if you can’t handle it. I’m serious, don’t do it. Let’s be real, many people apply for positions because it looks good on college applications, but how much of a difference in one more position going to make? The people who look at your application spend maybe fifteen minutes figuring out who you are, and it’s not like they can actually verify all the things you did as a leader. Don’t get me wrong, though. If you really like having an impact on those around you, by all means run for a leadership position. If you want that experience, run for a leadership position. If you think you can put the time and effort into it, run for a leadership position. The only time you shouldn’t do it is when you feel pressured to do so. Then you wouldn’t be motivated to do it, it wouldn’t be on your own decision, and it might not be the best choice for you. Sure, it does look good for colleges, but you’re not supposed to ruin your life in order to get into college, so don’t. 

In general, just know where your limits are. I say that more to myself because I’ve really been unnecessarily pushing myself these days, and I think I need a break. But in the end, I think the break will be more satisfying knowing that I put my best effort into everything I did. So I’ll try my best, and I look forward to that time. 

That’s all I have for now. See you next time!