Welcome back CHS! The school year of 2023-2024 has just begun and I, Sydney Migardos (current senior), figured it would be a great time to share my tips that helped me to never fall behind in my school work! All students from freshmen to seniors, listen up, especially my fellow seniors who don’t want to catch a bad case of senioritis.

Having an agenda:

• Personally, having an agenda/to-do list keeps me most on track. Every time my teacher assigns work, I write it down and form an after school schedule for myself. This helps make sure I am not assigning too much, or too little work for the time I have that afternoon. Additionally, if my teacher mentions our class has a test next week, I will write that down to make sure I don’t forget and have to study at the last minute. Also, I think it is worth mentioning that you do not need to have a physical notebook, as I use my notes app instead.

Taking breaks:

• Life is all about balance and it is important to know your limits. There comes a point where studying in one sitting for hours becomes unhelpful. The human body needs mental breaks, so if something is not clicking when studying, drink some water, eat some food, or take a nap until you are recharged and ready to begin again.

Spreading your studying out:

• Instead of getting to the point where you feel like you have to cram your studying into one sitting, study for your test in sections by day. For instance, if my Trigonometry teacher told my class on Monday that our test on chapters 5-8 was on Thursday, I would study for chapters 5 and 6 Monday, chapters 7 and 8 Tuesday, and review everything Wednesday. This helps make the knowledge stick and come to you more easily when the big day arrives.

Finishing! Your! College! Applications! Early!:

• This tip is directed towards seniors like me but for underclassmen and juniors, you might want to listen up for the future. Finishing applications early gets one thing off your chest and also makes you feel accomplished that you were able to complete something that is known to be time consuming and unenjoyable. Finishing those applications will open up some extra time to study and not catch senioritis. 

Hopefully these tips help you all throughout this academic school year, and for a while after that, as these skills will apply for many years to come.