Surviving High School.

So I was at an assembly today at the school I graduated from last year for people who achieved an OP 1-5. Naturally, being back in that school environment brought back a lot of memories, both good and bad but I think the overwhelming feeling was that I really missed the place. I mainly miss it just for silly little reasons, but they all add up.

I thought today I'd share with you a bit about my school experience, and some tips that I would give people on how to make it out the other end of school still mentally stable.

I started at my new school in Grade 8, when I was this tiny stick thin thing that only knew one other person who was also going there. Coming from a public school (and I have nothing against them, just my own experience) and then going into a private school for highschool was a massive shock for me. I had never done any serious assessment leading up to grade 8, and had also never had a science, geography or history lesson. I guess you could basically say that my education was not quite up to scratch for the first 7 years of my schooling.

This new school changed all that, suddenly there were tests, assignments, homework and much more but my favourite thing was that there were no boys there to be distractions! As I passed through my years of high school each year got gradually harder and harder until I reached my senior years where it felt like you were given a million and one assignments to do all in the first week!

So I developed some strategies to deal with this mountain of work. If you're in highschool now, or at any point in your education hopefully these will help out. I'm also writing them down so I don't forget them before I start uni in a week (ahh!)

• Make flashcards: I made my own special ones so each subject had a different colour and picture, and then every single day after school I would right down any new things that I learnt that day onto the flashcards. Even if it was only one definition I would write it down, this saves sooooo much time the day before exams where you can just revise instead of trying to learn everything again!
• Make a study plan: Even if you don't stick to it exactly it does give a good outline of how much time you actually have to complete the work you have, and helps prevent long bouts of procrastination!
• To-Do lists: These are probably my best friend. As soon as you walk in the door after your school day go straight to your to-do list and write down everything that you have to do. It might also help to list them in order of importance or when it needs to be completed by. You don't have to complete the whole list, just work through it from top to bottom, it helps you see how much work you have to do.
• TAKE TIME OUT FOR YOURSELF: Probably the most important point, especially in your senior years things get so hectic that sometimes you can forget to take care of yourself too. I made my designated time Friday afternoons and I would only do the things that I wanted to do.

There's probably heaps more things that I could list for you but right now this is all I can think of, I might add to it later.

Let me know what you think.

Over and out, 

Erin