Tips to Help You Power Through the 2nd Semester

By: Glen Thompson

As the first semester comes to an end, many students may feel drained and tired, and unmotivated to continue to do well in their classes and extracurriculars. To try to ease some of the mid-year lag that we all feel, here are some school/life tips to keep you going strong for the remainder of the school year!

Always get enough sleep, especially the night before a test or other important event. Teenagers should be getting about 9 ½ hours of sleep each night, but studies show that most only get between 6-7 ½ hours.

Start studying early for any assignments. If you have a test on Friday, start going over material Monday night, even if it’s just a read through of your notes. Don’t wait until Thursday night and cram it all in at once.

Take quality notes in your classes. As tired as you might be, and as boring as the class may be, you’ll feel better the next day when you’re trying to review and can’t read your own handwriting.

Try to eat healthy food and drink plenty of water. Not only will this help to wake you up and keep you from feeling sluggish, you’ll also feel better about yourself after an apple or a glass of water. Try to avoid fast or fatty foods.

If you need help in a subject, ASK FOR HELP! Ask a teacher, an upperclassman, or a classmate. They all want to see you do well in your classes.

Prioritize things, and practice time management. Chances are, you have a very busy life, but you always need to know what’s most important. Think, are your grades more important, or an extracurricular activity that you signed up for just to have 5 extracurricular activities on your college application more important? Do as much as you can, but don’t put video games or anything like that before the important things, like your health and grades.

Treat yourself. In between school, sports, extra curriculars, family and social time, you’re going to feel stressed out, and it’s important to reward yourself when you’ve done well. Going for a B on a test and got a B+? Time to go out for ice cream. Finished a homework assignment early? Use that facemask and bath bomb! You deserve it!

Good luck this semester!

(If you need more tips on how to get your life going the way you want it, jump over to Anna Edmiston’s article, New Year: Time To Get Your Life Together)