,

New School Year: Find Your Balance

Jordan Geigenmiller Calvin Wight

by Danielle Behnke

Balance.
The transition between the flexible, long and sunshine filled summer days to shorter and busier school days can either be a difficult or an easy one depDanielle Behnkeending on how well prepared the student is prior to the beginning of the school year.

Outside of the school day and homework, many students also take part in extracurricular activities. Some of these activities include sports, babysitting, music lessons, religious activities, and even things as simple as hanging out with friends. What many incoming high school students worry about is not being able to maintain a ‘healthy relationship’ with their school life and their regular life. Trying to keep a balance between the two can be stressful, challenging, and can not always work out if a student does not know what to prepare for before making outside commitments. Academics can be very demanding, but so can extracurricular activities. With a few helpful tips, keeping a balance between the two becomes that much easier.

The first step is to prioritize. Knowing what is most important beforehand helps make difficult decisions in the future easier to make. Mentally making a list and knowing what is the most and least important to you is very important.

Academics should always be on top of one’s preferences. From the start of freshman year and then on, the grades that you get are going to have an extensive influence on your future. After academics, the rest of the decisions must be made by the individual in the order that they themselves want to make it.The top of the list of their priorities should mean the most to them, and at the bottom it should be what is least significant to them. For example, Emily Conner, a former freshman at Camas High School orders her ‘list’ as follows: “I always put my schoolwork first because I know that’s what is going to benefit me the most for my future. Then. of course my family and friends, and spending time with them. My activities like softball, dance and volunteering at the Oregon Humane Society are more for fun and competition, and I do not plan to go to college for any of them. Then my only job for now which is babysitting comes last on my priorities.”

 

 
Danielle Behnke
Helen Baller Elementary offers a robust PE program that helps balance students’ lives.
By prioritizing all of your activities before the school year begins, it will save you a whole lot of time and stress for the future.
The second step is to remain organized. The individual should plan out their week beforehand, that way there are no surprises. It is beneficial to plan out a schedule per day of the week too, which Carly Banks, a junior at Camas High School, explains how she manages to fit in homework, sports, babysitting, and friends in her everyday lifestyle.
 
“Grades will always come first,” Carly said. “What I do is get organized the night before and make a game plan for the next day. I try and finish all the homework in class with the free time the teacher gives us. If I do not finish my homework I will finish it when I am waiting for cheer or volleyball practice to begin.” By knowing what to expect for the day ahead, Banks was able to use that hour before practice to get the work she needed for school done, which gave her relaxing time once she got home from practice.
Therefore, by giving herself a schedule, she knew what her day was going to consist of and did not have to worry about not being able to get everything completed.
 
Giving yourself time to relax is something that you must accommodate as well, because without that time you are bound to become stressed out and exhausted.
 
The final tip to maintaining a balance between school and activities is to make sure you do not to commit to more activities than you can handle. Otherwise you will end up too high over your head, and will probably end up having to give up one thing or another. Making priorities, remaining organized, giving yourself time to relax, and knowing how much you can handle are all important and recommended steps to ease the struggle of balancing one’s school life with their outside of school activities.
 

 

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