The End of Fall Sports

As the last of the fall sports conclude, we finally have more time on our hands to do the things we want to do. Sports take up a lot of time and energy and we have to give up a lot of things that we love to do. Even though it is sad to see another season ended and hard to say goodbye to your team, the fact that your sport has ended for the year can be a good thing.

This is a time to get back to what we used to do and improve some of the habits we formed while on season. For instance you will finally have enough energy, and no excuses not to do all of your homework that night. This means if you let your grades slip this season you can finally do the extra work to make them up.

It is important to get into good study habits during this time, because is really easy to form bad ones. You have so much more time after school, don’t waste it. I know it can be really tempting to watch TV for a couple of hours rather than sitting down and doing your math homework. That being said, it is also a good time to start doing other things that you couldn’t during season. Whether it be, hanging out with friends more often or reading at night instead of falling right to sleep. This time can be both sad and relieving.

I just want to say congratulations to all of my fellow student athletes out there who made it through another year. I know it is not easy and you should feel proud of what you have accomplished!

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Surviving AP Chemistry

AP Chemistry is the second AP science class I have taken and in some ways the two are similar. In both classes you go into in depth detail of concepts covered in the regular classes, and the material always seems harder than it actually is. The first science AP course that I took was AP biology and it can be compared to AP chemistry, difficulty wise at least.

When it comes to AP chemistry it is important to understand the main concepts, and then know how to provide evidence for them. Especially with the free response questions, you need to explain concepts and what they are. It is alright if you don’t remember all of the specifics because if you show that you have a general understanding of the correct answer, you will typically get the point. However, typically the multiple choice section of the tests could test you on some of the details.

With this class if you don’t understand what you did wrong, it is important to go back and look at it. This is because you will be tested on the basic concepts of the class; so if you don’t know it, you are missing a major objective of the class.

Currently in our class we are learning about net ionic equations. The thing I struggle most about these is that you are going to need to know the details. Because in these equations they could give you the name of the ion and you are going to have to identify what it is and what its charge is. So, in this class it is important to both know the overall concept with some exceptions where the smaller details are important.

Lab reports are going to be a part of your grade in this class and here are some tips for surviving them:

1.      Listen to directions. As long as you include everything that the teacher wants you to include, you should get the majority of the points available.

2.      Turn it in on time. If you struggle with these, you don’t want to lose even more points because it is late.

3.      Make them neat and organized. You worked hard on these; you are going to want your teacher to be able to understand them.

4.      Don’t stress about them too much. All they are is just a summary of what you did in the lab. Just explain what you did, the results you got, and why or why not those results make sense. As long as you know those things, the lab report is a piece of cake.

Helpful Tip: Don’t get too far behind in this class; there is a lot to cover and not a lot of time to do so.

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Maintaining The Balance Between Personal and School Life

Our lives as teenagers are made up of two worlds: school and personal. Both can be equally stressful and chaotic, even at the same time. It is important to distinguish the two and maintain that separation. Keeping a balance and not letting one take over the other is very important, and at times can be extremely difficult. Take this for an example: if your boyfriend/ girlfriend breaks up with you the night before finals, you still need to be able to focus on the tests the next day. Letting one overcome the other can be disastrous, because it leads to even more stress than you already have.

Both worlds are equally important and need equal amounts of attention. Focus too much on school, and neglect your brain the chance to relax. Focus too much on your social or personal life and you suffer academically. Keeping the two worlds from taking over each other is essential if you want to survive high school. When it is time to study, actually study; and when it is the weekend, try to designate some time to hanging out with your friends or family. You should get good grades at school but you also need the time to relax and be yourself.

I understand that this concept is a lot easier said than done. After all, some of the only times you get to see your friends are at school, and a lot of drama can go down in those six hours. When you are in a classroom try to mainly focus on what the teacher is saying, and when you are in the hallways try to talk about other things than academics. Personally, I have been guilty of talking nonstop about a test I got back as well as letting drama get in the way of my assignments. Both cases are not fun to deal with.

I think it is okay to ask your friends for help on assignments sometimes, so long as it is not all of the time. You don’t want them to think you are using them for their homework. I also think it is okay to procrastinate on your homework for a bit to help out a friend. But, the same rule applies, as long as it doesn’t go too far.

One reason not to let one world take over the other is that in the future you will need both social skills and good academics. Good academics might get you into a good college or a chance at a good job, but you will need your social and personal skills to ace the interview. Another reason is because when both of your worlds are in order, you can truly be happy. During those times, you can be confident in your grades and still have fun with your friends and family. I know those times can be rare, but they will never happen if your worlds are colliding.

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The Truth About High School Swimming

Swimming is a sport not to be taken lightly. It is one of the most time consuming and exhausting sports I have ever done. Don’t get me wrong, it is a lot of fun and if you want to join you should. But it is a very large commitment. I have been a swimmer for as long as I can remember, so I am used to the sacrifices it requires. Many times the new people who join in the summer don’t understand that and usually end up quitting.

I am not trying to scare you away from trying it out; it really is a great sport. I am just trying to warn you that it might be harder than you think. Each practice takes a lot out of you and you get a lot less time to do homework than normal. The workouts are hard and they will probably push you until you break. But the reason you stick with it is for the team. I know competitive swimming is considered to be an “individual” sport, but you really have to rely on your teammates if you want to succeed. You and your team all have to go through the same workouts, the same stress, and the same locker rooms. You will be spending more time with these people than your own family (not really, but sometimes it feels like it). Over the course of the season you will become incredibly close to these people because of it.

I really do think swimming is more positive than negative. Yes, it is incredibly hard, but you will make such great friends that will last a lifetime. Plus, it is a great way to stay in shape and keep healthy during High school. And other than the occasional shoulder injury it really isn’t that hard on your body.

Helpful Tip: If you are new to competitive swimming you should know this: yes you do have to wear a swim cap, and do NOT show up the first day in a two piece swimming suit. Just trust me, wear a one piece.

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Should Cell Phones be allowed in Classrooms?

How strict should a teacher’s cell phone policy be? Should students be forced to turn off their phones during class? Or should they be allowed, so the student can quickly look something up on the internet? So in case of an emergency their phone is available? Is a student’s cell phone more of a distraction than a helpful tool?

Questions like these, I am sure, have more than just one answer. Personally I think that phones are both distracting and can be helpful in class. Nowadays, most cell phones have the ability to connect to the internet, making it really easy to look something up in class. But it also makes it easier to check Twitter and Instagram. Each teacher has their own opinion and I have been in classes with really strict policies and some without any at all.

Personally, I prefer the teachers who are more relaxed in their policy. I like to keep my phone on my desk, on silent of course, in order to check the time or look something up on the internet really fast. I would be a liar though, if I said I've never texted a friend or checked social media during class. It is a problem that ever teacher and student are going to have to face. Cell phones are a major part of most students’ lives and I don’t think they are going away any time soon. I know they can be a huge distraction to some students, I think that most know when to put them down and pay attention in class. As long as you still learn the material, I don’t see a problem with teachers letting their students have cell phones in the class room.

The time when phones get to be a nuisance, are when they keep going off in class. I understand if it goes off once because you forgot to turn it on silent, but when it goes off more than that, it gets distracting to the whole class. This is where I think the problem lies, it is one thing if one student is distracted by his or her own phone, but when the whole class is distracted it creates a problem.  It is a lot harder to learn when someone is getting a text ever five minutes and their phone keeps making a beeping sound. I think that students should be allowed to have their phones out in class as long as it is not distracting to other students around him or her.

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Halloween

Halloween can be a lot of fun in high school, especially when it lands on a Friday like this year. You have the ability to dress up like anything you want and it is perfectly acceptable to eat as much candy as you possibly can; even if it is unacceptable to go trick or treating. The way I see it is you have a few go to options for spending your Halloween night: staying at home and handing out candy, going out with friends, staying in with friends, or going trick or treating.

 Unfortunately this Halloween I was stuck at home to hand out candy to the ten children that showed up at my house and I hope you had one that was more exciting. But one good thing did come out of that, I got to eat as much candy as I wanted (my favorite happens to be sour skittles). Staying home really wasn't that bad (I mean there is always Netflix), but I think it would be more fun to go out and spend Halloween with friends.

There is always someone throwing a Halloween party, and that is another way you could spend the night with your friends. I’m not suggesting the parties that have drugs or alcohol at them especially if you are driving yourself, but you can still have fun and stay safe. If you go with a bunch of your friends then no matter what you will have a great time; especially if you guys have funny or creative costumes. You don’t always have to go with the clichés like a cat or a ghost. But have fun with it, you only get to dress up this silly once a year, so make it count.

The other option is staying in with friends and watching Halloween movies. Whether you dare to watch horror movies or you like to stick with the classics as in Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin, it will be a good time. This is a great option if you and your friends are too tired or too lazy to go out. You still get to hang out together and stay up all night eating candy and enjoying Halloween. If you are into watching horror movies I would suggest Silence of the Lambs. Personally I’m not a big fan but I do actually like this movie. It is creepy without being too scary, and I mean the kind of scary where things pop out at you and make you scream. As for the classics I always go for the Charlie Brown, but another that I really like is the Halloween Town series. They might be old but they are fantastic.

The third option is to go trick-or-treating. But the way I see it is if you are above the age of twelve, it is really creepy to go around and ask strangers for candy. It is just considered socially unacceptable. However, there are ways to get around this. First, you could go with your younger sibling so it looks like your parents are forcing you to go with them, even though you want to be there as much as they do. Secondly, you could go trick-or-treating for UNISEF. People might yell at you for asking for money, but you could score some candy at the more generous houses.

Helpful Tip: If you don’t have a younger sibling to tag along with, try asking your friends. Maybe their younger siblings need more than one chaperone?

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