Help! I am a junior and I feel that my classes are too stressful. I am taking 5 APs, and I thought that I would be able to handle it. I took APUSH last year, and I did well, but I’m starting to regret my decisions. It’s too late to switch out of these classes now.
From: Juggling
Dear Juggling,
You’re an upperclassman! Congratulations! Keep going, you’re almost there.
The two upperclassman years are when people usually load up on AP courses, and that can be a smart decision when preparing for college –– regardless on your intended major, you want to get all the requisite credits out of the way: whether that’s AP Calculus, Biology, or Economics. Before registering for AP courses, it’s best to make sure your schedule shows a directional pattern rather than a varied one. In other words, make sure all your courses reflect your field of interest, rather than aiming to look impressive by taking a bunch of rigorous courses that don’t show any particular strength of yours.
If you’re already in a rut and unable to drop out of your courses, the best goal moving forward is to stay on top of all of them, even if some do not play at your strengths. Get an agenda and use it. The school agenda is quite big, so leave it at home, but it’s also very detailed with all the school festivities and schedule days. Mark down all your major and minor assessments. Mark down when things are due. Try and get ahead on work over the weekend so you don’t become swamped with work during the week. Come senior year, be smart and only choose the classes that reflect a focused, directional interest of yours or classes that will benefit you for the sake of gaining knowledge.
Stress will become more manageable if you feel prepared for each class. That often requires studying and completing the work you need to do in time. Some study techniques I recommend are:
Setting a timer: check out the Pomodoro Technique if you want one way to stay focused on a task while using a timer. If you can’t be bothered, just set a time (say, 30 mins) and strive to work during that time, and then set a 5 minute timer to take a break. And so on.
Use that Do Not Disturb function on your phone: Imagine this: you’re tackling a set of math problems when you hear a notification jingle from the phone that you have thrown onto your bed. It would be so easy to check who it is: turns out, it’s just a notification of an update from Instagram. Disappointed, you decide to remedy the feeling by checking your social circle’s stories. Before you know it, you’ve spent 40 minutes scrolling mindlessly through the Instagram explore page. If your using an iPhone, there is a Do Not Disturb option with a symbol of a moon. Activate it, and all your notifications are on silent until you turn it off. No jingles, no vibrations, and no distractions. Use this option while studying and check for notifications after your study session.
Handwrite while studying: As much as you can type speedily using a keyboard, generating words on a screen can become an automated process that doesn’t engage your brain. This can become especially catastrophic if you’re learning new concepts and need to retain and retrieve them for an upcoming test. Studies have shown that handwriting your notes can improve learning and memory for students. A pen and paper offers the flexibility that a computer screen cannot: creating mind maps, drawing diagrams, or adding annotations to previous notes in a smaller font. When note-taking, get off your screen and resort to learning the old-fashioned way!
Yours, Askolotl.