Welcome back everyone!
I mentioned in my last post that the first quarter of the academic year is officially complete at my school, and I’m kind of in awe of that. The holidays are approaching, everyone is beginning to hit their stride and settle into routine, and I have to accept that I’m actually a sophomore.
Now that we’re at this point in the year, I wanted to talk a little bit about where my mind is at and how I’m feeling about school this year so far. I’m actually kind of conflicted on whether I think time is going by quickly or slowly, but either way- here we are! Homecoming and football season have passed, it’s about to be Halloween, the initial beginning of the year has passed. We’re really getting into the thick of the school year…where the work piles on.
One of the main things I’ve been thinking about lately is that at the moment, I’m not planning on doing cheer next year, meaning that right now I’m going through my last few months of doing a school sport and being on the cheer team. Cheer has been a huge part of my life both inside and outside of school since the beginning of eighth grade, and it’s weird to think that right now I’m experiencing some of my “lasts” in the sport- last homecoming as a cheerleader, last football game as a cheerleader, last rally as a cheerleader, etc. I feel like the weirdest part is all of these things are events I’ll still be attending, I’ll just be on the other side of the fence.
Even though I know that stopping cheer after this year is probably the best decision for me since it will alleviate some stress and free up some time in my busy schedule for other activities I enjoy more, I’m still reluctant to leave it. All of the other activities I’m currently doing I either started at some point in freshman year or later, whereas cheer I’ve been doing since the beginning of eighth grade, as I stated. It feels strange and sad to let go of the activity I’ve been doing the longest (and it makes me feel like a quitter/like I’m not committed to anything), but I have to shake those thoughts and remember it really is the right thing to do, at least for me.
Speaking of making the right decisions and alleviating stress, I’ve really been struggling with time management and finding a balance. I give lots of productivity tips on this blog and I talk about the importance of finding a balance, but this year my balance has been constantly teetering. Some weeks are insanely busy and I have no time to socialize, but others are super laid-back and I’ve been able to spend my whole weekend with friends. Some of it is bad planning on my end, but some of it is just how it is with the school events and my strict cheer schedule; it’s hard to figure out my individual schedule when I don’t actually have that much control over it.
School has definitely been a lot harder academically as well this year. I spend a lot more time doing homework, and even though I’m still doing well in my classes, I’m not excelling at the level I was last year. I just don’t have hours to put into studying anymore, and it doesn’t help that the content of my classes this year overall is harder. I’ve done my best to stay organized and I’ve gotten better at using the amount of time that I do have to study as effectively as possible, but it’s another issue with balance.
The last thing I want to add about these past ten weeks or so is that I’ve realized that everyone has their unique struggles. I know, I know- that’s a cliché that everyone says/knows. But guess what? It’s true. The reason I’m mentioning it here is because there’s been someone I’ve looked up to for a while- she just seemed like the perfect student and perfect at everything else she did. I’ve recently discovered that although yes, there are always going to be people that are smarter/prettier/funnier/more well-liked than you are, everyone really is going through their own self-comparisons and other issues. Remember that next time you catch yourself making comparisons, and have a wonderfully productive day!
-Brooke
adventures of a typical high school student 