Dear Nedlam,
While I’m really glad school is almost over, I do remember how fast summer flew by and being totally unprepared and frazzled for the new year. So many things were a complete mess, any tips on how to make next year a little easier for me?
-Worrying about the future
Dear Worrying about the Future,
Although it is important to relax and not stress too much about the future, there are a few things that you can do to make your future school year a little easier. For starters, if you are already friends with seniors, stay connected with them, if you’re not friends with seniors (or upperclassmen) become friends with them. Why? The reason is simple, they’ve probably already taken the class that you’ll be taking next year meaning they’ll know what your teacher will be like, how hard the course will be, they might even have some old assignments or tests for you to study off of. Plus they might let you use their graphing calculator instead of having to buy a new one because those things are expensive!
Another thing you can try to do for next year is make sure that you have back up classes that you want to take or wouldn’t mind taking next year aside from the ones you already picked with the guidance counselor. This is because although your schedule is pretty much set, occasionally a class that you wanted to take won’t work in your schedule and you need to chose something else, it's always great to have a backup plan or two.
I also recommend getting your summer work done immediately. I know that the majority of people I know, including myself, tend to procrastinate the whole summer stressing over the work that we still haven’t done, till we finally get it all done a week (or sometimes even a day) before school starts. That is literally the worst possible thing you could do. Get your work done as soon as you can because once it’s out of the way you won’t have to deal with school work for another few months.
If you have an idea of the teachers you might be having next year take the time to either introduce yourself, or get to know where your future classroom will be located. It’ll make it a whole lot easier for you to find your way on the first day of school if you have some idea of where you are going.
Something that I think a lot of people also don’t think about is cleaning up their lockers at least a week in advance. You don’t need to get rid of your books just yet, but you might have important papers or an old lunch in there that you need to sort out, and if you straighten things out a month in advance you’ll be all organized for when it’s time to clear everything out. Plus you might find math or English papers that belong in your binder and could just help you get a higher grade in a binder check. I also recommend cleaning out your backpack a month in advance for the same reasons.
Lastly, although there is more I could say on this subject is to relax! School is nearly over but we all still have to get through finals, and the biggest thing that any of us should be stressing over is that. Even though it’s important to be prepared for the future, we still have a good amount of time until then and should just take a deep breath and live life one day at a time. Hope this helps! Good Luck!
