Preparing For A New Year

By Thien Transqu | Kennedy Key Club

Hello Key Clubbers! It’s August and it’s that time of the year where we have to prepare for school! We may have some difficulty adjusting back to school because of the pandemic, but it doesn’t mean we can’t have a fun school year! Here are some ways you can get ready for school this year.

1. Get your school supplies!

It is always important to prepare for school in advance. I’m sure many people use mechanical pencils, so stock up on lead and a brand new binder! Old binders get worn out over the year and may break if you use it for a second year. Make sure to refill your lined paper because many people tend to forget to restock and ask to borrow a friend’s. Especially if you are taking IB or any science classes next year, I recommend buying those 5-subject notebooks to get ready for huge amounts of notetaking! Highlighters and sticky notes are very useful for annotating passages for any class as well.

2. New Clothes!

Many students enjoy showing off their new fashion sense and refreshening their image for the new school year. If you are having P.E. make sure to pack another set of tennis shoes to run in. Prepare money for P.E clothes as well. Last year, some students were reported to the principal for wearing clothes that didn’t pass school rules, so make sure to always wear school appropriate clothes.

3. Set and plan goals for the year!

While some students set foot blindly into their new year, it is good to note that you should set goals that would motivate you towards having a great year! Don’t make goals too unrealistic though and make goals that allow you to motivate yourself to push past your limits. Some examples of goals are getting your hours done for your high school graduation requirements. Maybe another goal would be to become friends with some of the teachers. As long as it benefits you onto striving for a successful school year, go for it!

4. Fix your sleeping schedule!

Let’s be honest, most of our sleep schedules are pretty whack and sometimes, we tend to forget time exists and sleep until 4 am in the morning and wake up until the afternoon. While no one is forcing you to sleep earlier, please keep in mind that once you start school, sleep will be very important towards keeping you healthy and wide awake during school. Would you rather have 4-6 hours of sleep or 8-10 hours of sleep? To adjust your sleeping schedule, make sure to sleep early a week before school starts and setting up a timer to wake up when your first period starts. This is a really efficient method towards regaining back your sleeping schedule.

5. Stop procrastinating.

Even if we are home most of the time during our school year, we shouldn’t have that unhealthy mindset of slacking off and leaving assignments towards the last minute. Phones and other handheld devices are a huge distraction and ruining your time to study, do homework, and complete daily tasks. In order to become a better student, you must resist your urges to check social media and chat online with friends.