Many students are fortunate enough to pass all of their classes and enjoy their summer break. I could've been one of those students. But I chose a different way to spend summer. Hunched over in my bedroom desk 12am -7am every day for 8 weeks doing mathematics. So let's be real.. most of the reasons why I had a bad experience with summer school is all my fault and could've been avoidable if I had self-control. So here's my story. Hopefully, you learn from my mistakes.
Freshman year of high school: straight A's, math class was a breeze, I had so much free time. This is what every typical high school student wants and this is what I had. Only problem? I didn't like it.. I wanted to be challenged. So I did what any over achiever would do, take a math class over the summer. Pre-Calculus, to be specific. I was actually debating whether or not I should do it for at least 6 months before I actually enrolled. I started ninth grade in Algebra 2 and the logical step after that would be Pre-Calculus. I knew I was capable of understanding math at a fast pace but I wasn't confident with my skils/ I was worried that I'd end up so confused and then going into AP Calculus AB without the proper knowledge. After months and months of asking for people's opinion, I jumped the gun and enrolled in an online summer school. My motivation? Not disappointing Mr. Hanson (my math teacher) and the $500 price tag my mom paid to enroll me. I specifically remember the night before my final, I called my mom to talk to her about my grade (because it was below passing) and telling her how I wanted to give up. Like always, she gave me a motivational speech; good enough for me to fight through the last few days. That night I turned in two weeks worth of work, took a 4 hour nap before studying for my final and the same day I took my final and scored a 94%. Don't let that little underdog story fool you. The reason why I was struggling so bad, the reason why I always did my school work at 12am in the morning until I pass out at 7am, the reason why I had to turn in two weeks worth of work in 6 hours was all my fault. I made really bad decisions that I knew was bad and instead of learning from my mistakes, I kept repeating it. Things like:
This is how summer school worked; you learn one topic every day resulting in one whole unit learned every week, at the end of every week you get tested on the unit you just learned and then go onto the next unit next week. Its 7 units, 8 weeks. With the last week used to review all topics. Well lets just say I took a different route. I did pretty good for the first four weeks. Week 5 was completely late because of our house move. Sixth and seventh week? Those were the schoolwork I crammed in the night before the final. So as you can tell my time management was horrible. Summer school isn't for everyone and while some students don't get to choose to whether they take it or not, here are my main tips:
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RIANNE DEL CARMEN
My biggest goal in life is to just live it. To enjoy every moment and find the beauty in all things. So I write to inspire others. Not to just enjoy life but to better themselves. To become a better student, a happier person, and a more loving human. With tips and stories, I hope to help you through all the rough edges. Spread kindness, Rianne Archives |