Fare thee well

Advice to underclassmen regarding school and life

by Miya Easley

As the school year comes to a close and our seniors leave to continue their education elsewhere or to start a different kind of journey in their life, there will surely be uncertainty in how they should perform and what they can do to best prepare themselves for this new path. In light of this, the seniors reflect on how they grappled with being the newcomers and some have come forward to offer advice in hopes to assuage any anxieties that may arise for students of this coming school year.

“Make sure to make the best of your high school years because when it’s over, there’s no going back ”

One major aspect of high school that many of our current and graduating students can surely relate to is struggling with heavy workload and time management issues. Some students have part time jobs or younger siblings to take care of, while others have after school activities and advanced placement assignments that eat up time. And that’s not accounting for people’s personal and social time that is essential to having a healthy school-life balance. For this reason Western Governors University has compiled a short list with advice on how to get through high school. Their very first recommendation? Get a planner! It seems simple and too easy to be a solution, but having something written down for you to see and refer to can help sort through urgent work and assignments while also acting as its own reminder.

For those of you who have afterschool activities or plan to join them, maryhelp.org has presented their own quotes from graduating sports players to help other students. In their advice, a recurring comment is to never give up and to connect with your team. While this advice may seem focused on sports, it can be used by anyone who may be struggling in school or experiencing burnout. If you feel down or overwhelmed by failures and excess work it’s good to take a small break, ask your friends and classmates for help, and get back on track after de-stressing. Figure out your goals, short term and long term, and break them down so you can start small. Take things one step at a time. Find out what you want from life and what you need to achieve it. Get to know your peers and make connections. If you stress, it’s okay to make a tactical retreat and try again later. It only hurts to give up.