Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Procrastination

We've all done it. Waited until the last moment to do something we should have done days, months, or even years ago. It's never fun when you have so much to in such a short amount of time. It seems like I've always been a procrastinator. It drives my parents crazy. I wait until the last possible moment to do homework, study for tests, and work on projects. It usually works for me. My excuse for procrastinating is that "I work better under pressure." Yeah, right. I just don't feel like doing things until I have to. But just recently, I learned the hard way that procrastination does not always work. I have an AP Psychology project to finish that I should have started months ago. I started it 2 weeks ago. To finish, I've been having to work on it sometimes more than 9 hours a day to be able to finish on time. Yes, 9 hours. I carry my book and laptop with me wherever I go to work on it whenever I have free time. In the morning, during lunch, and after school all the way up until I go to bed. It has been extremely stressful. I can't do anything else but work on this stupid project. I shouldn't even be writing this blog entry. The only times I come out of my room are for school and to eat. I never get a break. Also, I have the ACT test next week as well as finals in all of my classes the week after. Yikes. I could not be any more over my head. I'm drowning in all the work I have to do. The after-effects of putting things off until the last second have hit me and I can't do it anymore. I am now officially retiring from my position as the queen of procrastination. My advice to anyone who has always been a procrastinator like me: Do. Not. Put. It. Off. Seriously. It's going to get you one day. And you won't be able to handle it. Laugh now, but when you have a moment like the one I'm in right now, you'll know what I'm talking about. Don't wait until it's too late. If you get an assignment: please start working on it early. Do a little everyday, it's a lot better than spending hours on it the night before it's due. It takes away a lot of stress in life if you finish things early. There isn't a better feeling than when you are done with everything you have to do and you just get to relax. Well, I should probably go work on my project so I'll leave you with this: Please just do what you have to do, now. If you don't, you'll have a lot of regret coming your way later.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

21st Century Learning

Right now, in high schools all around Michigan, teachers are trying out the method of a "flipped classroom," also known as 21st Century Learning. The goal is that students become more in charge of their learning and more independent. The thought is that there won't always be a teacher to guide them in the right direction so kids have to learn how to do things on their own. Basically, students are expected to teach themselves. Teachers will just "guide" them in the right direction. I know that this is a new concept for schools and teachers might not have approached it the right way yet, but in my honest opinion, I think it's a load ofexcuse my languagecrap. I don't mean to bash this new idea because I know a lot of teachers are under pressure to incorporate it, even if they don't want to, but I would have to say that most students my age agree with me when I say that it's really just not effective. Teachers are there to teach not to guide. That's why they are called teachers and not guiders. My math class is now 21st Century Learning based and it has been really challenging. We do our homework in class and then when we come home from school, we are expected to watch video tutors online to teach us the lessons. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that the teachers job? Why are we watching another teacher teach us how to do math at our houses while our teacher sits back while we do our homework at school? Math isn't usually a problem for me but I now have to work a lot harder to get good grades. I go in early to school many times before my math tests and have my old math teacher explain things to me because I need that teacher-student connection. I need to be able to ask questions when I'm confused and have things explained to me. That's what school should be like, and used to be like. In the words of a classmate, "Why fix something that isn't broken?" Why are schools trying to fix something that has been successful? And why isn't anyone asking us students how we feel about this new way of learning? Why don't we get a say? Teachers have always been the people who set students up for the future. They teach us now so we know how to do things later in life. It's too early for us to be expected to do things on our own already. If we are still in school, we expect to be taught by our teachers, not a computer. Maybe in the future this concept will be figured out and used correctly/effectively, but right now it's just made high school even more challenging and more stressful.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Friendships: Figure It Out

Being a highschooler in your late teens means finally figuring out who your true friends are. Through middle school, you most likely changed friend groups a few times. There have been the back-stabbers and the liars. There have been the mean friends and the friends that take advantage of you. But once you are in high school, you know that the real ones are the people who are there for you through everything. Your bad days and your good days. They are the ones you run to when everything goes wrong. When you lose yourself. They are the people you trust. Trying to impress those who don't want you in their life is a complete waste of time. I honestly don't know what I would do without my four best friends. They have been there for me through all the catastrophic events I've had during high school. We know every little detail about each other and I've never laughed harder with anyone else but those four people who mean the world to me. So if you didn't figure this out already, spend your free time with the people who want you to be there. It is less important to have a ton of friends, and more important to have genuine ones. Going to parties with a bunch of people you don't know that well instead of just hanging out with your friends is never as fun. Let the losers who like to get drunk and make fools of themselves go to the parties. Stay home with your friends and enjoy life with the people who are just like you. They are the ones who matter. Best friends are the siblings God forgot to give us. So if you haven't done so lately, tell your best friends how much they mean to you. I'm sure it would mean a lot to them.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

The Biggest Decision: College

Picking a college is probably the biggest and hardest decision highschoolers will have to make their junior year. It's a decision we all put off until we get to the age when every adult we talk to asks us what college we want to go to. The first time we get asked, we stare at them blankly and shrug our shoulders. Then the pressure starts. The decision for picking a college is upon us and we have no idea where to start. The time comes for college visits and getting that perfect ACT score. But that's a whole other stressful thing to worry about. Right now, in the Bloomfield Hills area, most teenagers are under the impression that they have to go to a "good" college. Not some small school up north that no one knows about. They all think that they want to go to either Michigan, Michigan State, or some other world-renowned school. They are raised to believe that this is the standard they have to make. If they don't get into schools like those, the thought is that they aren't enough. They aren't smart enough. They aren't good enough. Teenagers get confused about the concept of picking the college that is right for THEM. Not the college their friends are going to, or the one all the "smart" kids go to, or the college their parents want them to go to. My advice to to every junior, especially the ones who think that they aren't good enough, is this. College is about one person: YOU. College doesn't make you, you make college. Go to a college that is the perfect fit. If you do better in a small-classroom setting, visit small colleges. If you are interested in being something specific like a Psychologist or a Writer, research the colleges that are known for that. If you don't know what you want to do, go to a liberal arts school and figure it out. Who cares if the stuck-up kids scoff at you when you tell them you are interested in going to a small school? Don't try to live up to anyone else's standard but your own. Wouldn't you rather take that first step of being an adult in a place that is just right for you? It's your decision. It's your life. So make the most of it.