STOCKTON: As Spring approaches quickly and we dig into our last semester of the 2022-2023 school year, the time arises for seniors to begin preparing for the next stage of their lives.  This stage is college, trade school, military,  or the job market.  Throughout their four years of being in high school, seniors have worked out strategies in order to get through school steadily.  It isn’t to say that there weren’t any obstacles that they faced throughout this journey.  For instance, the addition of the Coronavirus pandemic was persistent in their sophomore year of high school as well as part of their freshman year.  Luckily, incoming LHS freshmen will not have to face this obstacle. It is still necessary to take other pieces of advice into consideration so similar mistakes aren’t necessarily made in the future.  

The main concern that I hear about being in high school is the workload.  As you progress each year, homework tends to increase. Tests also begin to increase in comparison to middle or elementary school.  When asking seniors about their study habits throughout high school, some stated that in comparison to their freshman year, they have a better system of studying.  Dustin Ryza stated, “ I don’t remember studying my freshman year, which says a lot about my study habits.  I don’t think I really studied during my freshman year, I just stopped once I finished the required work.  Now I definitely take the time to study, I actually take notes during class that are easy to look over and practice a couple days before any tests.”  Others, on the contrary, explained that their study habits stayed the same or declined.  Mikaela Monzalvo stated, “I would say that from freshman year to senior year my study habits have stayed the same.”  She followed this statement by clearly stating what tips worked for her.  She explains, “My advice to maintain good study habits is to use flashcards when you can, get other people to quiz you, and take good notes.”  With studying taking up time in a students’ day, the topic of how much sleep a student will get begins to arise. 

As many are aware, a student’s sleep tends to decrease starting from being in high school.  As such, this applies to the majority of seniors at Lincoln High.  Carlos Barrera stated, “I used to get a bit over 8 hours of sleep each night, now I usually get like seven hours max.”  While maintaining a good sleep schedule isn’t the easiest skill to obtain, Mikaela Monzalvo advises that you take breaks in between assignments and physically get yourself to be in bed by a set bedtime.  “Do the thing that will take the longest to do first and then go from there.  Also take breaks in between finishing subjects but only for a max of 10 mins and then go back to your homework.  I would say to also pick a reasonable time to make sure you are in bed, I would say latest 10:00 so that way you can get eight hours of sleep.”  For the most part, simply try not to stress out and make sure you have a set amount of sleep that will work for you every day.  School takes up a good chunk of a students’ day, but there is still time made for activities outside of school.

     Many students at Lincoln High partake in after school activities and extracurriculars, but how does a student keep their school and personal life balanced?  Daniel Orani sets his priorities clear and direct.  He stated, “Sometimes it is hard but for me school always comes first.  To even do extracurricular activities you have to have certain requirements in academics.  I make sure my grades are good before going out, or doing things with friends.”  As Daniel explained, prioritizing school before anything else is a great way to set yourself up for success.  On the contrary, Audrey recommends putting a stop to procrastination and completing all necessary assignments.  She explained, “For me it has always just been normal to have school, practice, dinner, shower, homework, but I know it can be hard for someone who’s new to high school and feel like it is a lot.  Truly though if you do not procrastinate and just do homework unlike me, you will be fine, even doing school sports helped me always keep my grades up due to getting grade checks during the season which pushed me to stay on top of my things/work.”

With all that being said, for incoming freshmen or any underclassman, in order to truly be successful in up school, you must set up a system that will work for you. In addition, don’t fully be consumed by school, because you should still be having fun outside of school and participating in activities you are truly interested in.  Hazel Ann Vilda explained  this when being asked about any extra advice underclassmen should hear.  She explained, “Go out, live life. Education is still a top priority because education does get you somewhere in life but it doesn’t hurt to branch out into different activities that you might want to do.  Always live your best through highschool because the next four years will go by very fast, all the slow days, the cold days where you don’t even want to get out of bed, the days of the finals where everyone is cramming so hard their brains hurt, the fun days like rallies, assemblies, etc.  Those days are the most important because little do you know, it is you who will soon be ordering a cap and gown, making payments for the Disney Grad Night trip and next thing you know, you’re on that stage walking and receiving your diploma.  Never turn down opportunities that will benefit you for the next four years!”