“It took me until well into second semester before I started to fell confident that I could keep up with everything.”
“Don’t pile on AP courses. Really, don’t! Take only the number that also allows you to pursue the other interests that colleges look for such as athletics, clubs, special interests, and knowing how to take care of yourself on your own.”
“Pick only AP classes where the topic interests you. It’s too much work if you don’t want to learn it.” If you stop to think, AP classes are college-level classes. Their purpose is to give students experience with the independent learning required in college and get help mastering the related skills while they still have a high school safety net. So the learning is meant to be a reach. To do all that extra work and in a subject that doesn’t interest you really makes it hard to stay motivated as you stretch to the challenge.
Every student finds a different rhythm for when to study, but they all agreed on many points:
“Don’t try to study late into the night. It doesn’t stick anyway.”
“Shut off your phone to study and sleep.”
“Get enough sleep. These are great years, but you’ll miss the fun if you are sleepy all the time.”
“Use every minute during the school day to knock a little off the day’s homework. There’s usually 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there. If you stay organized, you can use that to shorten your evening’s work.” Plus, if you run into trouble, you are here where you can find help.
“If you get in a bind from being sick, something outside school suddenly taking a lot of time, etc., talk to your teacher about how to navigate.” They want you to master the material. Homework helps, but it can be flexible at times. One thing though, teachers expect students to do the asking so that they are practicing important self-advocacy skills.
“Learn to prioritize. Do the harder assignments when you are freshest, even it you’d rather not tackle them.”
“Ask for help no matter what you need. There’s no shame in asking for help. It’s called problem solving, a great skill to know. Solving a problem includes calling on all available resources.”
“Talk to other students about how they manage and what tools they use.”
Regarding mental health, the suggestions had many parallels to what’s above.
“Mental health is not about fixing something that is broken.” Strong mental health is gained through building a toolkit of skills and habits. Like study habits, pick one, practice until you develop a habit, and then try another. Find suggestions here.
Young high school students often confuse the healthy pressure presented by a new challenge with unhealthy stress. “Growing and learning presents occasional struggles and moments of doubt.” Learn to practice What Went Well and Notice, Name, Navigate. Both are simple concepts with big impact. Both require that we practice until the habit sets up as an unconscious reaction.
“Don’t worry so much about what others think. One, the people who care, true friends, are not judging you. Two, being yourself and wearing it proudly really makes you feel great no matter what others say.”
The Bellevue School District acknowledges that we learn, work, live and gather on the Indigenous Land of the Coast Salish peoples, specifically the Duwamish and Snoqualmie Tribes. We thank these caretakers of this land, who have lived and continue to live here, since time immemorial.