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 depending 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.”