How did you stay organized and manage your time effectively?
Ever since having Mr. Meli in my freshman and sophomore years his way of organization has changed my entire academic experience. It’s so simple, keep your binder neat and organized. Have a lot, and I mean a ton, of dividers and only keep that one binder for one class. It helps keep the timeline of the course you’re taking, ensures you don’t lose your work, and becomes a great study guide by the end of the year. Keep your Google binder organized as well. As annoying as it sounds, keeping your assignments, docs, slides, etc in a specific folder by unit for a specific class you’re guaranteed an easy and neat study guide digitally for your finals/exams.
How did you maintain your mental health and deal with stress?
Remember that you are only in high school. You are under 18 and allowed to make mistakes and grow from them. As kids, there’s too much stress put on you guys and you allow it to eat your soul. You can breathe and relax, one grade isn’t a defining matter. Keep a good attitude, tend to your soul, and focus on you to have a good mental. How to deal with stress? Take a day to just relax. Do literally nothing. Don’t let it become a habit, but every once in a while if you feel it becoming overbearing. Treat yourself to a meal, watch your favorite show, take a longer shower. It seems simple but if you’re stressed over school these are things you probably don’t do often. Give it a try at least.
What would you say to someone who’s hesitant to get involved?
It doesn’t matter. Whatever you think the next person is thinking of you, I promise they’re not. How often do you think ill of someone who is trying to express themselves? Rarely do I ever even notice someone trying to put themselves in a new social situation. If you are interested, go for it! What’s stopping you other than you?
How did you explore your interests and find your passions?
It took so long to figure out what I wanted to major in. Do things, you’ll never find what you like to do if you don’t do it. Talk to people who are passionate about what they teach. Something Teaneck has is a lot of awesome teachers who love what they teach and are more than willing to give their knowledge to you. Talk to your counselors, some of them know them better than you and can guide you to the places you need to be (shoutout Ms. Victoria). Make sure it’s more than an interest and not something you want to do for a short period of your life. The most important thing is to make sure your major is something you don’t hate. Just because you’re “good” doesn’t mean it has to be your whole life if you don’t wish it to be.
What’s one piece of advice you wish someone had given you when you started high school?
Omg, please please pleaseeee don’t let your nerves control you. Do things, talk to random people, make friends with your teachers, get involved, don’t let school be miserable for you. The goat Mr. Meli taught me this too, if you’re not nervous then it wouldn’t matter. If you keep thinking “I have __ years, I have time” you’ll come to a point where it’s over. Do it while you can and have fun, let the positives outweigh the negatives, and don’t let people consume you. Love yall, high school is going to go great for you all.
