Month: September 2019

How Social Media Harms & Helps Us (Simultaneously)

BrookeLeave a comment

Good morning everyone!

You’re either reading this on a phone, tablet, or computer screen right now. You probably spend at least a few hours on that device a day, reading lots of other random articles and blog posts like this one. I know I do- multiple hours of my time are usually wasted scrolling through social media every day. I don’t even realize it, since it’s in innocent-seeming five-minute breaks every so often. It’s an integral part of our lives at this point, so why not talk about it?

Don’t worry, I’m not a hater on all things Internet-related. However, I’m not the biggest fan of our media-heavy culture either. Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube; they all make us (whether subconsciously or consciously) compare ourselves to others. Beyond the unrealistic comparisons to others, which is an overused criticism of social media in my opinion, they distract us from our real lives. We get sucked into some videos, and before you know it, it’s 8pm and you haven’t done your homework or anything else productive.

How do we use social media for entertainment without crossing that line? It can be a nice little break from the daily tasks of life, but too much always seems to end in stressful procrastination. Last year I began using the Screen Time feature on my phone to limit my time spent on certain apps and analyze how much time I really spend on my phone everyday. I was kind of appalled at the results; I had an average of five to six hours a day, with more on weekends. In my defense, I often leave YouTube videos or Netflix on in the background while I’m cleaning or working on other things, so that’s not all time spent straight-staring at my screen.

That brings me to another point- we’ve become dependent on having some sort of stimulation at all times. Listening to music while studying/working definitely isn’t a new thing, and it happens to be very relaxing, but watching YouTube and Netflix while working is a whole different issue. I personally always feel like I need to be multi-tasking all the time, so when I want to watch a video or TV show, I’ll play it in the background while I’m doing my homework. This works better for some people than it does for others, but that’s not the point; why do we have this constant need to be stimulated both online and in the real world?

Okay, I’ll stop hating on social media (for now) and discuss some of the wonderful things about it. For one, it does help you stay in touch with people. I have old friends that I probably would’ve completely lost touch with years ago if it wasn’t so easy to reach out and reconnect with a press of a button. If you’re feeling down and you need to talk to a friend, someone’s always going to be online. You can FaceTime people you miss, you can keep up with acquaintances that you probably won’t actually hang out with in person, and you can meet entirely new people through different apps.

The importance of social media has also grown even more since it’s been recognized as an important business and marketing tool. There are sites like LinkedIn for job networking, and every company out there has an Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. There are endless opportunities in the vast online world, and it definitely helps people find their way through the job market. It also helps students- there’s lots of ways to get in contact with colleges, and there’s tons of other resources on social media for tutoring and such.

I think the problem with social media is that we don’t actually know how to utilize it. Sure, we know all of the amazing things it can do as well as all the horrible things it can do, but we don’t know how to use it without letting it take over a little bit too much. In the near future I don’t see this changing, but you can determine your own fate by being mindful of how you spend your time online, and why you choose to do so.

-Brooke

Hey, This Is Harder Than I Thought…

BrookeLeave a comment

Welcome back guys!

I’ve mentioned multiple times on this blog that I am a writer and designer on my school’s yearbook staff this year. The first month or so of school has just been getting new members (like me!) caught up on how to use the software, how the class runs, and so on. We’ve finally started our first assignments/activities, and I’m a little overwhelmed. It’s not that I didn’t realize how much work it was going to be; the amount is manageable, and I knew it wouldn’t be a complete cakewalk.

I guess the best way that I can sum it up is that it’s overwhelming to be thrown into a major school activity that also happens to be a business (people pay for the yearbook), and has a significant legacy already. Our school is pretty large, so in turn, our yearbook is traditionally very large (around 500 pages). Take into account we have about 20 staff members and… yeah.

I didn’t think my social awkwardness would play such an annoying role in being a yearbook staff member either. I don’t know why I didn’t realize this earlier, but as a writer, I’m responsible for interviewing a lot of people so I can get quotes for my assignments. During the summer I imagined myself typing away on a computer like I did with my blog, writing about whatever I pleased. Obviously that wouldn’t have been the case no matter what, but I forgot about the interviewing process that comes before the writing as well.

I’m enjoying the design element of it all a lot more than I thought I would. I initially joined thinking I would be doing strictly writing assignments, but I think I’ve honestly spent more time practicing my design skills than writing. We use Adobe InDesign, which is a super fun program to work with. I definitely wish I was more creative and had unique ideas of what to actually design on the pages, but the platform in itself is fun.

I’m really hoping that once we continue to dive into things and move onto more assignments, I’ll find my stride. I don’t have a preference between writing or design at the moment, but I’m hoping that at least I’ll excel at one of them. The writing will be a creative relief since I’ve barely had any time to work on this blog or my personal writing outside of a few hours on my already-busy weekends.

This is definitely a shorter post, but I wanted to address the reality of being in yearbook so far since it’s something I’ve discussed on this blog. I’m really glad I joined, especially since there’s such wonderful and kind people in it, but it’s another example of things being harder than I expected. I look forward to learning a lot more throughout the year, and I’ll probably make another update like this within a couple months.

-Brooke

Staying True to Yourself Throughout High School

BrookeLeave a comment

Hello everyone!

Being a teenager is hard; everyone says it, and we all know it’s true. It’s easy to feel like you need to act a certain way to be accepted by your peers, and we all want everyone to like us. In the long run, pretending to be someone other than your wonderful self will make things harder than they have to be. It’s cheesy advice, but it’s true- and I’m going to tell you exactly why it’s so important.

If you’re making a conscious effort to act differently than you normally would, you start to lose your old self. You won’t be able to distinguish your real personality from your new (fake) one, and this loss of identity can be very discouraging. I’ve experienced this myself, and it’s a really hard thing to deal with and recover from. Sometimes changing our behavior around others is almost a coping mechanism. For example, I’m a fairly shy/introverted person when it comes to meeting new people or being in large group settings, so I often act a lot more bland, boring, and frankly annoying when I’m with people I don’t know.

That strange behavior comes from me trying to make my shyness seem more natural and just a part of my personality, but it only makes things worse. I’ve been trying to work on being more outgoing and conquer my fears of public speaking and such for a while, and so far… I’ve made some baby steps, I guess? It’s natural for this type of altered personality to come into play if you experience shyness or social anxiety like me, but it can make things just as complicated as if you were changing your behavior on purpose.

Whichever way you slice it, a fake persona isn’t going to get you anything- except maybe a mini identity crisis. But how do you make sure you’re not subconsciously conforming to the strange social standards in order to fit in? No one has a perfect answer; we all feel peer pressure and we all have done something odd or dumb because of said peer pressure at some point. However, I will say that one of the things that’s helped me stay true to myself this past year is to stop caring about what you think of yourself.

This is a different approach than the typical “don’t listen to what others say/don’t care what other people think about you!” preach-y Pinterest quote, but it works the same way. (Don’t get me wrong, I love a good preach-y Pinterest quote; I’ve just heard this one too many times.) If you stop self-analzying and judging yourself on little things like your appearance, your social conduct, whatever else you do, it will carry over to other people. You can still judge yourself to a certain extent- I don’t think anyone can completely eliminate that- but it helps so much to just let it go.

For example, I might look in the mirror before heading to school and think, “Yikes, this is not my best look.” I can still think that, but I’m not going to freak out over it and change my outfit and put makeup on and be in a bad mood because I assume other people are judging my appearance. Instead, I’ll shrug, maybe do something that makes me feel a bit better like spray a nice perfume, and head out the door without a second thought. No one looks perfect everyday, and I certainly don’t care enough to try. I used to get caught up on those little things and try to dress with the trends, but I just don’t care anymore. Plus, I honestly just don’t have the time.

Speaking of time, we’re all pretty busy in high school. If you have a packed schedule of classes, school extracurriculars like sports/clubs/music, and volunteer work or jobs outside of school, you’ll stop over-analyzing the little things like being left out of a conversation at lunch or thinking that someone was judging you for saying the wrong answer to a question in class. You have to focus on the bigger picture and the fun engagements you have going on in your busy life.

We’re all still figuring ourselves out; no one really knows who they are yet. Not to throw a preach-y Pinterest quote in your face, but the best way to find yourself is to let yourself find you.

-Brooke

Why “Finding Your Passion” Isn’t Always Realistic

Brooke2 Comments

Good morning everyone!

I know we all want to find that one thing (or multiple things!) that ignites a fire in our soul and makes everything fall into place; everyone wants to have their thing. I’ve personally struggled with finding that “thing” myself, and this year I’m really working on exploring different activities in hopes of finding it. However, in my own search, I’ve realized that finding your specific passion isn’t always the right thing to strive for. Sure, it’s important to do what you love, but why put a label on it?

When we’re young, it’s acceptable to dabble in different activities, even if your path becomes a bit messy. You’re just exploring, and you have plenty of time to do so until you eventually need to commit to something. We’re told we need to commit because it demonstrates good character to stick with something, because we’ll get better at it with practice, because it will look good on college applications. By the time you get to high school, all of a sudden we’re told it’s good to close yourself off to all the other options and enrichment out there to start stacking your resumé in one particular job field.

But does this really do us any good? Coloring inside the lines, staying inside the box, whatever analogy you want to use; none of these things ever let a person’s true ideas and personality shine. Even if we’re nearing adulthood, we still have a little bit of time as kids left. It’s important to take advantage of that and continue adventuring, continuing to be curious and see where it takes us, continuing to do all the things that make us ourselves and make kids…well, kids.

Don’t take this as me saying you shouldn’t pursue your passion- if you already know what it is, kudos to you! I’m jealous. Obviously get involved with the things you enjoy and continue to go deeper with those activities as you gain more experience and discover if you really love them, but there’s no need to pressure yourself. You don’t have to label yourself with a certain career before you even reach college and start considering majors, and you don’t have to know what you want to do just yet.

Also, the things I stated above about committing to activities (that it looks good on college apps, etc.) ARE true. However, that doesn’t mean you need to consider those factors above your own happiness. Pursuing the things you love, even if you’re not nationally ranked in them or you haven’t been involved in those activities for all of high school, is what will bring you to the college/place in life where you’re truly meant to be. At least, that’s what I tell myself.

-Brooke

(P.S. I’ve decided to cut out my repetitive closings that I’ve had on every post before this one! Everything I would say in them still holds true (hope you enjoyed, I’m here to ask questions and take requests, blah blah blah..), but I figured you get it by now.)

I Love My Teachers, You Should Too

BrookeLeave a comment

Good morning everyone!

I’ve recently realized what an important role my teachers have had in my life and I thought it was necessary to recognize them as such. Last year, I had probably some of the best teachers I’ve ever had; all of them were funny, entertaining, helpful, and intelligent in their own ways. They were probably the main reason I did so well academically in the classes I took, and I couldn’t be more thankful to have spent the year with them. I didn’t realize how much I would miss them (I still have the same Spanish teacher though) until this school year began.

My English teacher was probably my favorite out of all my teachers from last year; I made it a point to go visit her, but I’d just been so busy and I hadn’t gotten the chance yet. I found myself on her floor after an interest meeting for a club and decided now was as good a time as any to pop in and say hi. I was honestly scared she wouldn’t remember me (don’t worry, she did!) because even though I loved all my teachers, I didn’t speak up in class that much and I was never the teacher’s pet who stayed after class everyday to talk to them.

Needless to say, she remembered me. We ended up talking for the remainder of the lunch period, which was about 25 minutes. I told her about how stressed I was for our first big English essay in my current class, and she reassured me that I would be fine (I’m still not so sure…). As I surveyed the classroom and talked to her about the essay and how I missed her class, it almost brought me to tears. How did I not appreciate my teachers/classes last year while I was with them? How did I not realize I cared this much until now? I was overwhelmed and confused by my emotions. Regardless, we talked about our summers and had a lovely conversation until lunch was over.

This year, I haven’t made up my mind about all of my teachers yet. They all seem knowledgable/intelligent and like nice people as a whole, but they’re a lot stricter and more intimidating. However, I’m trying to form better relationships with them and be a more assertive student as a whole so that I don’t take my teachers for granted again like I did last year. Who knows? I could end up loving the teachers I have now even more than my teachers from last year.

Teachers are the essence of education; they devote their time to helping us students grow as people and gain more knowledge. A good teacher can make a subject easier to understand, and a great teacher can make it entertaining and… dare I say fun? I am so appreciative of the teachers I had last year because I learned so much from them and they honestly made the year what it was for me. Even though I stressed a lot during my first year of high school, I actually grew so much as a person and actually retained a lot of the information I learned because of my wonderful instructors.

Now that I’ve written basically a love letter to my freshman year teachers, I’ll close this post with this: get to know your teachers. Pay attention in class, listen to what your instructors have to say. There’s (hopefully) a lot of wisdom there and you never know what you’ll learn. We’re so lucky to have this opportunity to learn, so take advantage of it. Let me know if you have any questions, comments, or requests for future content!

-Brooke

The Importance of Healthy Eating Habits at School

BrookeLeave a comment

Hello everyone!

This topic randomly popped into my brain and I figured it was something significant enough to right about, since it’s very prevalent at my school. I’ve mentioned it in a couple of my other school-related posts, but there’s no sufficient space to sit down and eat at my high school, so everyone kind of stands around or takes part in lunch activities (clubs, tutoring, doing their homework) and skips actually eating. I’ve fallen prey to this habit myself since it’s the most common/easiest thing to do, but I’m going to talk about why this should be avoided.

Proper nutrition is actually very important for our brains/critical thinking/all that good stuff, so skipping one of the three core meals of the day is detrimental to your ability to perform well in school. Add to this that school starts so early in the morning that lots of kids don’t have time to eat a real breakfast; most people grab a bar or something small on their way out the door, or skip the meal altogether. With this issue and the lunch issue considered, lots of high school students don’t eat until after school- many have sports and other extracurriculars right after classes let out, so their first real meal could be anywhere from 5-8pm.

Not eating regularly throughout the day is not only bad for your mental abilities and your physical health, but it’s also bad for your moods. You will definitely be more irritable/grouchy and moody without the proper nutrition. I know I definitely get “hangry” pretty easily; I think I eat a bit more than the average teenage girl in general, but that’s a different topic for a different post.

In order to help combat this issue, I have a few suggestions. Bring snack food to school, especially if you have sports/other commitments going on right after school and won’t be eating dinner until even later. I know it’s not convenient to eat a normal full meal when there’s nowhere to stop and sit down, so that’s why convenient snack foods work perfectly. Try and choose foods with protein; they don’t have to only be healthy foods, but the healthier, the better. Note: I have a huge sweet tooth, and I am by no means the healthiest person when it comes to food choices and packing lunches- I’m working on it.

Another thing you can do is eat some of your food during classes where the teacher is okay with you eating in their room. I know around fourth period I need an energy boost, and my teacher doesn’t care if we eat; therefore, I always eat a granola bar or some fruit in his classroom. If you’re particularly close with a teacher and want an actual place to sit and eat lunch, you could also ask them if you can come in with a few friends during lunchtime. Then you will have a more permanent place to eat and that solves the no-place-to-sit dilemma!

Lastly, I have a few more solutions. I saved these for last since they’re probably my least favorite and I wouldn’t recommend doing them often, but they’re good for special occasions or when you’re in a pinch. You can use food delivery services like DoorDash or Postmates if your school allows it to get a healthy lunch (or unhealthy lunch) from wherever you choose; my classmates often do this. You can also buy a school lunch if you’re hungry and realize you didn’t bring food, or you can buy snacks from the vending machine if your school has one.

I hope this addressed any concerns about not having the proper meal habits at schools and gave you suggestions on how to combat this issue. I think it’s extremely important that we nourish our bodies and do everything we can to be as mentally and physically healthy as possible. Let me know if you have questions, comments, or requests for future content!

-Brooke

Why Writing is Such a Therapeutic Outlet

BrookeLeave a comment

Welcome back everyone!

I’ve previously mentioned that one of the reasons I enjoy blogging so much is because it gives me a place to express my feelings and know that they’re out there for other people to possibly read and relate to. It’s such a powerful feeling to go through the writing process and have the release of posting it at the end. I always recommend that people write, even if it’s just a little journaling once in a while or if it’s making lists; it calms you down and it’s always a productive pastime. I’m going to explain a little bit more about why writing helps us de-stress so much and why I think we should all spend more time doing it.

  • It gets your feelings out – As I mentioned, it’s such a release of thoughts, feelings, etc. No matter what emotions you’re experiencing or how overwhelmed you are, writing it all out has to help at least a little bit. It slows your thoughts down and forces you to process them; plus, putting them onto paper gets them out of your head and into the world.
  • It’s creative; you can write whatever you want – You don’t have to write about your life or your problems at all. You can write about whatever pops into your head: your dreams, your wishes, a random story you’ve always had in the back of your head. It all depends on how much time you want to devote to it and what you feel like doing. If you don’t like painting/doing visual arts but still want to do something creative, write!
  • Allows you to escape from reality – This goes along with being creative, but you can literally do anything you want with it. I find myself getting so caught up in writing, even if it’s something mundane like a school assignment or a to-do list. It sweeps you up because you’re forced to focus on it as you put ink to paper.
  • Connects you with others – Reading and writing are so important in this world. When you write something and others relate to it or you read something that you relate to, there’s such a special feeling there. That’s why I love blogging; there’s always the possibility that people out there will connect with what you write.
  • It stimulates your brain – It’s still a productive activity, but there’s no stress that comes along with it. It’s not as mind-numbing as watching Netflix (no hate, I watch way too much TV myself), but it’s still a relaxing thing you can wind down by doing.

I hope you enjoyed this post and are hopefully inspired to go write something. Ever since I started writing more often, I noticed how much calmer I was every time that I sat down to write. I am by no means a professional writer or an expert on anything writing-related; I just enjoy doing it, and you can too! Let me know if you have any comments/questions about this topic or if you have requests for future content. 🙂

-Brooke

Why High Schoolers Are So Stressed About College

BrookeLeave a comment

Hello everyone!

Today I’ll be discussing a constantly hot topic: why teenagers are so stressed about the impending doom of the college admissions process. I’m writing this post as I procrastinate finishing up my weekend homework, so hopefully none of you are currently as stressed as I am. The pressure and the stress that comes with it is only increasing as admission rates continue to plummet. You might ask, well aren’t there thousands of colleges out there? There has to be somewhere that will accept you, so don’t worry. And while this is true, there’s still plenty of reasons high schoolers everywhere plan their entire schooling experience around trying to get admitted to certain schools. Let’s talk about why!

  • Pressure from the people around them – Parents, other relatives, and teachers/staff at school who want to be able to say they’ve sent kids off to prestigious schools all might exert their own pressures. If you feel you need to get into a certain caliber of school to impress people or to make your family happy, you take on a huge burden and it seems like the only way out is to get in.
  • An intrinsic motivation to succeed – This one is the biggest culprit for me personally. I’ve always considered school of the utmost importance, and I dreamed of attending Harvard when I was young. I’m not sure where I want to go now because obviously Harvard isn’t for everyone and even among the most elite schools there’s different fits, but I put a lot of pressure on myself to get good grades and such for the sake of my high standards and eventually, college admissions.
  • Fear of failure – During high school, college is the end goal (for most people). If you don’t work hard enough to get into the college you want, that’s a huge turn of events that will seem like a failure. There’s always that “what if”, and it’s scary to know that what we’re doing now in high school can directly determine our future in that way. No one wants to fail before they even become an adult.
  • Equating a good college with a good life – As I said before, college is drilled as the next step after high school. You’ll be taking the first steps into adulthood and furthering your professional life/finding the field you (hopefully) actually want to work in, and a lot of serious changes start to happen. We’re taught that in order to be successful in these endeavours, you need to go to a prestigious school that will help open doors for you. While this can definitely help some people and there are obvious benefits to going to these schools (that’s why everyone wants to go!), it creates this idea that if you DON’T go to a top school, you’ll never be as successful as someone who did.
  • Not knowing any better – We’ve all grown up learning what the “best”, most prestigious schools are- the Ivy League, Stanford, MIT, UCLA, Berkeley, etc. If no one’s ever told you different, you may think that getting into one of these schools is necessary to be happy, successful, etc. If it’s just always seemed like the ultimate goal or the best thing you can do, you’ll feel like you desperately need/want to get in.
  • Financial purposes – College is EXPENSIVE. However, many elite schools are the ones that have the best financial aid for low income students, often giving full rides based on need. All of the Ivy Leagues do this, and many other top schools. Students may be shooting for these schools in order to be able to attend a four-year university at all; that being said, lots of lower tier schools will often give merit scholarships, so low-income students with high stats could get these as well.
  • Comparison to others – As the competition gets tougher, we start to look around us. There are so many geniuses out there with amazing stats, extracurriculars, and more; they seem to have it all. One glance at an Ivy League hopeful’s resume can give you stress overload just looking at it- how do they manage it all? This sends you into a spiral thinking about how you need to do more and you’re not good enough… and so on.

These are just a few of the many reasons that us high schoolers are constantly freaking about the future sneaking up on us and college looming in the distance. I hope you found this informational or could relate to some of these- I’ll probably be writing another post on this topic soon. Let me know if you have questions or comments about this post, or if you have any requests for future content!

-Brooke

Life Update: What I’m Involved In This Year

BrookeLeave a comment

Good morning everyone!

Hopefully all of you have gotten off to a good start in the school year and are beginning to settle back into a routine. I’ve been writing my posts on the weekends and scheduling them in advance since school has started, and every time I sit back down to type, I realize what a wonderful outlet it is. There’s definitely a lot of things going on in my life right now, so I figured I would talk about them!

First of all, school takes up a ton of time, especially with homework and studying. As I’ve mentioned, I have a full course load of honors/an AP class, Spanish 3, and yearbook as my elective. I’ve had my first big tests in almost every class so far, and I have my first two assignments for yearbook. Weirdly enough, homework hasn’t been taking me TOO long since I usually have to just quickly get it done at the end of the night after cheer/other extracurriculars.

I’ve still been volunteering weekly at my local animal shelter, and I’ve recently gotten more involved with Assisteens, a local volunteer program. I went to some events with them over summer, but I just went to my orientation meeting about a week ago. We have our first official meeting later in the month of September, so I’m looking forward to that and getting into more service projects! Key Club meetings haven’t started yet, but I’m kind of questioning if I want to stay in it. I do most of my service that goes towards my Key Club hours outside of the club events/on my own and I already have a lot on my plate, so it’s definitely something I’m thinking about.

As far as school commitments and clubs, I’m doing a decent amount right now but I may sign up for more- which is why my plate is so full. Football season is in full swing for cheer; we have practices three times a week after school and a game every Thursday or Friday. I’m still a member of Key Club as I mentioned, and I’m also part of the special needs program my cheer team organizes, which is technically a club since we meet at lunch every Tuesday. I applied to be in the Spanish Honors Society, and I’m a tutor in the Social Science Center one to two days a week. I’m a member of our school’s CSF chapter, but I don’t believe there’s any meetings for that or other significance.

Outside of school, I recently joined a program called Youth and Government through my local YMCA. It’s an opportunity to learn more about politics and improve my public speaking/debating skills, which I really wanted. I’ve always been really shy and horrible at public speaking, and I’ve made it my goal this year to improve. It’s a great environment to practice in, and the subjects we talk about are so interesting. The program is just getting started, but I can make a couple posts dedicated about it as I learn more and get more involved.

Other than that, I have a few writing-related things I’m doing. I’m still a First Reader editor for Polyphony Lit and I get submissions to write feedback on every few days, and I’ve been keeping up with this blog. I really wish I had more free time to write, but I’m still working on fitting it into my schedule. I hope to submit to the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards this year, and a few smaller contests/publications. I love to write and I’m realizing I need to make it more of a priority, since it’s such a good outlet for stress.

Club rush at my school is coming up soon, and I hope to join another club or two if I can manage it. I’m looking at FBLA, JSA, LaunchX, the English National Honors Society, a literary magazine club, another writing club, and a tutoring club; I’ll have to see which ones I like the best before I commit to one or two. I kind of wanted to start my own creative writing club or some form of club, but I just had too much going on and I think it would be easier to take on a task like that as an upperclassman. I also wanted to join the Mock Trial team, but it was too big of a time commitment and it wouldn’t have been fair to me or the rest of the team to try and make it work.

I don’t think there’s any other programs outside of school activities that I’m looking to join aside from the arbitrary service commitment, but I am beginning to research summer programs I may want to apply to. I also might get an internship once cheer season is over in the spring, since I do not think I will be doing cheer my junior year (another thing I’m debating!) and therefore won’t be worried about prepping for tryouts and starting the season again. As you can tell, I do not currently have any leadership roles in my activities; I’m hoping to start my own personal project at some point based on something I’m passionate about, and/or use this year as a building block in my activities to possibly get some leadership next year.

I hope you guys enjoyed hearing a little bit more about my life and what I’m up to. I’m currently brainstorming more content for you guys and trying to decide what direction I want this blog to go in. Let me know if you have any questions or requests for future content, I’m always here to listen!

-Brooke

How to Succeed in AP Human Geography

BrookeLeave a comment

Welcome back everyone!

Last year during my freshman year of high school, I took my first AP class: AP Human Geography. I was intimidated at first, but I knew it couldn’t be too difficult since it was a class traditionally taken by freshmen. It ended up being one of my favorite classes I took that year, and I succeeded in getting a 5 on the AP test. If you’re a freshman and nervous to be taking this class, or you’re in any other grade and nervous to be taking this class- don’t worry too much! There’s a lot of really interesting course content and I promise you will be fine.

  • Take detailed notes – Reading your textbook and really marinating in the content is key to understanding; the concepts aren’t too complex, you just need to take in the information. I find that taking good notes is the best way to do this since you can easily refer back to the most important parts of the readings. Whatever note-taking method your teacher advises or you normally use is fine, just make sure you are including specifics in your notes and lots of examples/explanations for things! A lot of human geography is about the “why” and not the “what”.
  • Practice old FRQs throughout the year – My teacher always put a couple old AP test FRQs on our unit tests so we did this automatically, but if your teacher doesn’t, practice these yourself! It will prepare you for the AP test in May, but it also really improves your writing skills and your general understanding of the course content.
  • Know your terms/definitions – There are A LOT of terms and definitions in this class, so you’ll want to stay on top of them. Make quizlets for each unit and definitely review them before each unit test so you know all the terminology used in questions/answers; some questions on the AP test genuinely are just definitions/terms, just with slightly trickier wording.
  • Buy a prep book – You can wait to buy a prep book until the AP test and study crunch time is coming closer, but I would actually recommend buying it towards the beginning of the year. Since prep books are meant to be a review of all the general course content, they often break things down in a summary/simpler way- if you’re ever confused on a concept during the year, you can refer to a prep book and it should make it easier to understand.
  • Know the models!! – You’ll learn about various types of models (different city models, demographic, etc.) throughout the course, and it is SO important to know the differences and the significance of all of them. There’s usually an FRQ on interpreting one of the models each year on the AP test and there’s quite a few multiple choice based on them. They can also help explain a lot of the other concepts in the course, so definitely study the models a lot.
  • Examples are key – As I stated before, a lot of human geography is about the “why” and not the “what”, so it’s important to be able to provide explanations and examples of different terms and concepts. When you’re reading the textbook and making notes, definitely write down all examples that are mentioned. These are super helpful for FRQs as well.
  • Utilize others’ study materials – Since it’s an AP class, there’s tons of online resources (other people’s quizlets, YouTube videos, websites/blogs, etc)- make sure to use these if you need them! They can supplement your own study materials and possibly explain things in new ways.
  • Study in advance and try your best! – As long as you stay on top of your work and study for every test, it shouldn’t be too different from any other class. I am confident you all will do amazing as long as you’re trying your best.

I hope this little guide put your minds at ease if you are currently an apprehensive AP Human Geography student. I personally found the class super interesting, and I was lucky enough to have a wonderful and funny teacher which made it even better. I think it’s a great first AP class to take since the concepts are a bit more general and usually apply to things you already understand in the real world- it’s a mix of a lot of different subjects in history. I’m always here to answer questions, so let me know if you guys ever need human geo help!

-Brooke