15 Ways to Have A Successful Junior Year of High School

Oh, how time flies. Just yesterday you were a freshman excited about high school and look at you now, about to be a senior; they grow up so fast. You can’t have fun just yet. 15 tips will be provided, advising you to make the best decision to finish junior year off strong! Tip #1: Stay Focused and Make Goals

Junior year is the most stressful year of high school. With the ACT and SAT, college admissions, scholarships, and society, it’s extremely easy to lose focus on the bigger picture. Remember why you need this last semester to be perfect.

• Write on sticky notes what you hope to accomplish and stick them everywhere.
• Set daily goals. For example, you can make a goal to speak with your teachers on ways to improve your grades.

Tip #2: Get Organized!

College mail, test prep materials, study guides, and scholarship information can pile up rapidly making a cluttered mess. Junior year is not a time to have clutter! Grab all those loose papers and find a nice comfortable place to sit. Make a “trash” pile and a “keep” pile and divide the loose papers into those two categories.

If you don't have one already, get a good planner. You can use planners track your homework, events, holidays, and much more. Here’s a good article to show you how to organize your planner. Don’t see a planner you like? No worries, you can use a personal journal and decorate it to your liking. Here’s an article showing you how to make and use a bullet journal.

Tip #3: Begin Thinking About College

Don’t fall behind the rest of your peers by skipping out on the college search. The college admissions process is competitive and gets even more competitive the closer it gets to application season. You can access college websites and forums discussing colleges. Here is an article on choosing the college best fit for you.

Tip #4: Visit Colleges

College visits are highly important. They can make or break your decision on a school. If you walk on campus and you just get a feeling of home that usually means this is the school for you. You also can get first-hand testimonies from current students and can meet different reps from the school. Who knows, you might just stand out on the visit and get a surprise email from the admissions director. Visiting colleges aren’t always accessible to everyone. Here is an article about learning about colleges without visiting them.

Tip #5: Begin Looking for Scholarships

On the YouGotIntoWhere? blog, monthly scholarships are posted to help you with the scholarship hunt. There are many websites that match you with scholarships. Scholarships.com, Fastweb.com, Cappex.com, and CollegeGreenlight.com are common sites to find scholarships. Also, check to see if your local banks and churches offer scholarships. Here’s an article to assist you in search of scholarships. Don’t get discouraged or frustrated. Good luck!

Tip #6: Prep for Standardized Tests

• Here is an article comparing the new ACT to the new SAT.
• People are willing to tell you their experiences. 
• There is an article on seven ways to improve your score.
• Lastly, there is an article informing you on how to get through the SAT/ACT by the end of your junior year of high school.

Tip #7: Begin Asking for Recommendation Letters

Your favorite teacher, your track coach, your vocal coach, your pastor, or even your supervisors are good people to ask for recommendation letters. Colleges and scholarships both as for recommendation letters.

An article was written about a beginner’s guide to recommendation letters. You should check it out.

Tip #8: Meet with your Counselor

The good old counselor, your best friend throughout your junior year of high school. You should meet with them initially to make sure you are on the right path to graduation. They can motivate you, and essentially they can make the second semester of junior year easier for you. Building this relationship also means you can have another person who can write you a recommendation letter.

Tip #9: Expand your Resume

Expanding your resume means to add more things on your resume to make you stand out in the application pool. As a junior in high school, a resume is a must. It can be used to get jobs, to get internships, to get recommendation letters, and to get admitted to colleges. For colleges, an activities resume will be most common. There are many templates out there in the world for activities resumes but if you like to make your own from scratch, here’s a guide for you to use. 

Tip #10: Get More Involved

Join more clubs and extracurriculars in your school and community. Clubs and extracurriculars on your resume show that you want to learn outside of your required eight hours. It also shows your initiative to better yourself. The longer you’re in a club, the better.

Attempt to become the president, vice-president, secretary, or treasurer. For sports teams, try to become captain or co-captain.

 This will tell you everything you need to know about choosing the right clubs. 

Tip #11: FAFSA?

Yes, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. FAFSA is what colleges will use to accept and award financial aid to you. The application opens October 1st of every year. This will explain what FAFSA is. 

Tip #12: Find a Form of Income

There are many articles about getting part-time jobs in high school but here is the article I wrote on making an income during high school. My parents won’t let me get a job? There still are ways to find income. You can babysit, house sit, or pet sit. You can become a tutor and more. There are pros and cons of having a job in high school. 

Tip #13: Get Closer to Your Classmates

These are the people who will walk across the stage with you. These are the people who you will see at your class reunions. These are the people who will support you in life. If you haven't made good friendships yet, now is a great time to start.

Tip #14: Get Healthy

You should pay attention to your body's physical and emotional needs due to the stress that you will be under from school work, activities, and more. Exercise, eat healthy, and talk to someone if you are not feeling as happy as you believe you should.

Tip #15: Relax and Have Fun Finishing junior year of high school is stressful but it doesn’t have to be the death of you. You don’t have to think “do this, do that, I need to find this, I need to stand out” every day. Devote days or hours to relaxing, and no, sleep does not count. Meditation, running, cleaning, and doing any of your hobbies are good ways to relax. There is an article on de-stressing or relaxing productively. 

I hope you enjoyed my 15 tips on finishing your junior year of high school strong. You will do good this semester; I have faith in you. Good luck!

What You Should Be Doing Each Year in High School to Have a Successful College Admissions Experience

Growing up, I used to watch a lot of TV. Even though the heat didn’t work in my basement and the room gave me shivers that went to the balls of my feet, a show or two was always on my daily agenda. With age, the shows I was interested in shifted from wanting to watch the PBS Kids nightly specials to recording every Disney Channel and Nickelodeon original movie that was ever mentioned on a commercial. I was one of those that can still sing both the Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2 soundtracks by heart. Still can, actually, and still with no shame. With my introduction to Nickelodeon and Disney Channel shows, my different visions of the high school life became brightened like Christmas lights, and I was becoming more than excited to go. While I knew I would never be acting at (the fake) Hollywood Arts High School or living on a Cruise Ship, I wanted to know how I could make my years of high school as productive and entertaining as possible within a more traditional high school experience.

Because of the lack of older siblings or other family to help give me advice, I turned to YouTube. At the time, I had already learned a lot through the site, like that cats can do absolutely anything and oranges are extremely annoying when they talk. However, when I tried to do research on how my four years had to go in order to have a competitive college application, I was only able to salvage a few genuine responses, as 95% of the knowledge I gained from the videos were identical advice regurgitated with different wording, advice as common and bland as a saltine cracker. With the help of some exceptions, including YouTubers (Katherout, Annemarie Chase, and Joi Wade), I was inspired to try some things for myself, and found what worked and when I needed to start things.  I worked for you to avoid the mistakes that I’ve made during high school, and a good timeline to follow to prepare yourself for the college admissions process.

Freshman year

Academics:

Academically, freshman year of high school is an adjustment period. Some people, like myself, find the adjustment easy, and others find it more difficult. However, it is a year that goes on your transcript so it’s important to start the year focused and stay focused throughout the year.

Extracurricular Activities:

Get overly involved in activities. If you have any slight interest, sign up to get alerts and go to the first couple of meetings. It’s easier to join some activities then quit them after freshman year, if you don’t like them, than to try to join clubs, sports, etc. as an upperclassman.

Testing:

This should be an area you are least concerned with. Because most of you won’t have the math skills or have built up the English language skills that are crucial to the ACT/SAT. Don’t do more than the practice tests your school may require you to take.

Miscellaneous:

1. One of the best ways of getting through the stresses of high school and the college admission process is having friends or a community that will support you through both your successes and failures. Freshman year is a great time to establish your “crew” that will be there for you. While these people may not stay with you throughout your entire high school journey, at least having a past connection is a great support mechanism to make the high school experience both fun and rewarding.
2. Set both short and long-term goals for yourself academically, within your extra-curricular activities and socially. These goals can range from making the varsity lacrosse team, to getting a 3.8 unweighted GPA, to getting into your state school. Writing these goals down and keeping them somewhere where you’ll read them often can help you maintain your focus throughout the school year.

Sophomore Year

Academics:

Keep grinding. Stay focused. If you slipped into bad habits freshman year or were not happy with your academic performance, don’t dwell on those mistakes. Use them as motivation and a learning experience for this year and going forward.

Testing:

By the summer, talk to your parents/guardians and determine how you’ll be preparing for your standardized tests (the ACT/SAT), whether that’s with prep courses, private tutors, or self-studying, in order to get ahead of your peers. If you think prep courses or private tutoring are paths you’ll need to go on, it may be a good thing to pursue during the summer as you have more free time to do the practice.

Extracurricular Activities:

By sophomore year, continue to search for the extracurricular activities you really enjoy. There is no shame in quitting or joining activities this year. If you want to have the possibility to gain leadership in one of these activities, make sure to attend as many of the events/practices/meetings for the activity, in order to show dedication to the advisor or coach.

Miscellaneous:

If you’re interested in doing some more unique things during college, like playing a sport, joining an ROTC program (which you can read about here http://www.goarmy.com/rotc.html) or studying the performing arts, talk to your guidance counselor and see what sort of preparations you’ll have to do before-hand. The last thing you want is to find out when you’re applying that these programs aren’t available to you because you waited too long.

Junior Year  

Junior year is the year you’ve got to get your head in the game. This is the most looked at year by admissions committees on a college application, so you need to.

If this year is getting too stressful, make short-term goals. Sometimes it’s easier to look at getting through a stressful week than a well-known stressful week.

Academics:

1. For those of you who decide to apply to colleges at the early deadlines in November, the end of this year is the last impression colleges will have of you when you apply, so you need to push yourself academically. Try to do the absolute best that you can academically.
2. Since you most likely got all of your graduation requirements done with, this is a year to establish a schedule in areas of interest. For example, if you want to be pre-med, it would be beneficial to double up on science classes, to show your dedication to your major to your colleges of choice.

Testing:

Try to get all of your testing out of the way as early into junior year as possible. Start doing prep and taking actual exams by December to give an adequate amount of time to improve your score. If you believe you are going to be applying to a college that requires or recommends SAT subject tests, make sure to plan for those as well.

Extracurricular Activities:

1. If by this point you have found a few activities that you really enjoy, try to dedicate a bunch of time to them. If you love playing the trumpet, you can play in a myriad of bands, mentor beginner trumpet players, and go to intensives in the summer to help you improve your craft. This sort of strategy allows you not only for tremendous improvement in what you do, but shows colleges your dedication to the activities you involve yourself with.
2. Look into possibly pursuing leadership in the things that you’ve been involved in. No matter how much you doubt yourself about getting a leadership position, just do it. While one of your volleyball teammates with an ego bigger than the Pacific thought they were guaranteed being captain BS’ their speech and is basically not going to be considered, you’ll wish that you had written a speech yourself.

Miscellaneous:

1. If affordable, try to visit some of the colleges that you are interested in. If the visit list is still limited, maybe take a week and go to a couple of concentrated areas with lots of colleges, such as Boston or LA, because there are a variety of different colleges that you can visit in order to get a feel for the type of environment that you would like in a particular college.
2. Stay sane and socialize. Go to a couple of football games. Go to Homecoming, prom, girls ask guys dance. Go to a party, even if you have a lot of homework due on Monday. It will keep your mind clear and sane. You’d be surprised by how much screaming the lyrics of your favorite song can take you out of the stresses of the world and into a happy place.

Senior Year

Academics:

1. If you end up applying to any regular decision deadlines, you will have one-two marking period grades that will be sent to colleges. Just like junior year, it’s another time to impress colleges and show another strong academic record.
2. Remember that even after a college accepts you, they can take back their acceptance if your academic performance is not where they would like it to be, so try to stay focused enough where you can achieve grades of a level that is near your highest performance in high school.

Testing:

If your standardized testing is not already completed, work on getting it completed in the September and October dates.

Extracurricular Activities:

Enjoy being on your sports teams, orchestras, and unique clubs while you can. If you aren’t interested in pursuing these at a collegiate level, this year will be the last that you’ll be able to experience them. Make that last year count.

Miscellaneous:

1. Make sure to dedicate time nightly for your college applications. You don’t want to fall behind on these and not have them at the quality that you like.
2. Visit the colleges that you got accepted to if possible, to help make your final decision of where you’ll be attending college easier.
3. Have fun! Treat yourself for the hard work put in you put in the past 3 ½ years.

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Why Choosing a College is Like a Season of the Bachelorette

Choosing a college is like a season of The Bachelorette. Applying to college might seem as stressful as choosing a fiancé, but that’s okay.

Weeks 1-2

During your junior year of high school, you will probably begin compiling a list of potential colleges. Throughout the remainder of your high school career, you will spend countless hours deciding which colleges to apply to, actually applying to them, and finally choosing a school. It sounds rough.

Similarly, JoJo Fletcher underwent a stressful process throughout the ten weeks which made up this past season of The Bachelorette. At the start, she was faced with twenty-six men seeking her heart. Each participant on the show offered a unique set of characteristics to his potential future fiancé, just as colleges do to prospective students. Of course there are colleges that offer none of what we are looking for... I think we all remember Chad from this season. While it may be easy to rule these schools out quickly, there will be multiple colleges with various pros. Maybe one has the name everyone knows and envies, like former NFL quarterback Jordan Rodgers. Another displays incredible guidance and support, like Robby Hayes. How can she choose?

Weeks 3-5

As you begin to acquire acceptance and rejection letters from schools and narrow your choices down, the decision-making grows increasingly more challenging. Take it from JoJo. She shed tears nearly every episode, especially as the weeks went by. She continued to learn more about each man and had even more trouble letting one go. Like JoJo you are looking for a commitment, which can seem daunting. As JoJo send men home week after week, she found herself crying out that she didn’t even know what she was doing. She wondered whether the decisions she made rejecting men would be the best for her future.

Although your decision is far from easy, you will reach a moment of clarity in which you will feel comfortable with the school you have chosen. Trust me, I’ve been there too. Personally, I had a lot of trouble choosing between the University of Southern California and the University of San Diego. Being from New York, I knew that I was choosing a school far from home, in fact on the other side of the country. Just as JoJo visited the homes of her top four men as the season began to wrap up, I made sure to visit my top colleges before coming to a decision, which I cannot recommend enough. The visits helped me immensely, and I left California during the spring break of my senior year, where I visited five schools, with a clear idea of my two favorites- USD and USC.

Weeks 6-7

If you still feel torn after visiting the schools to which you were admitted, as I did, don’t freak out. My first tip is to make a list of the pros and cons of each of your schools. Compare the various factors by their importance, such as the cost of tuition, the majors and minors offered, location, and opportunities for internships and jobs.

Although this process can help you to visualize the school which is most realistic for you to attend, I believe that following your gut will ultimately lead you to the best college for you. When JoJo was left with two men during the final episode of this past season, she talked rationally with her family about her two options, verbally listing their pros and cons. Both were great, but her parents and siblings all seemed to favor Robby. Her brother compared Jordan to a “New Year’s date” and claimed that Robby seemed to be more of a long-term fit for JoJo. However, America’s favorite bachelorette jumped to Jordan’s defense. Just as JoJo defended Jordan, I found myself defending USC whenever a family member or peer would persuade me to commit to USD.

Weeks 8-9

When it comes down to it, you can ask your family and friends for their advice as much as you want, but you won’t end up choosing a school because someone else told you to do so. You are the one spending the four years at that school, not your loved ones. Though JoJo’s family encouraged her to pick Robby, they ultimately expressed their interest in her happiness. My family did the same when I was choosing a school, and I’m sure yours will too.

Instead of asking where you should go, ask your family and friends where they believe you truly want to go. You will come to realize that your heart is set on a college. Clearly, JoJo felt that Jordan was right for her early on in the show, as she gave him her First Impression Rose. She revealed after the season ended that she kept asking herself which man she could not imagine leaving, and the answer was Jordan. Think about which school comes to your mind first. Metaphorically, I gave my First Impression Rose to USC. My family could tell for a while that I genuinely wanted to end up there, since I always talked about it first and most often. I did receive more scholarship money at USD and was offered spring admission to USC, meaning that I would have to begin classes there in the spring semester, rather than during the fall. However, I followed my gut and felt absolutely relieved when I committed to the University of Southern California and made plans to study abroad my first semester.

Week 10

My final piece of advice to you is to not stress too much. Wherever you end up is where you are meant to be. I know that was corny, but it’s true. Please don’t let yourself cry as much as JoJo did this season (if that’s even possible). As May 1 approaches, deliver that final rose, also known as your deposit, to the school you cannot imagine denying. At the end of the day, choosing a college is a process, and you should trust it! After all, JoJo trusted the process this season, and she and Jordan are set to live happily ever after. *Roll Credits*

If you are still stuck, the following links will direct you to more help on choosing between two colleges:

http://college.usatoday.com/2013/11/17/fear-not-10-ways-to-choose-between-seemingly-equal-colleges/

http://www.fastweb.com/college-search/articles/stuck-between-two-schools

https://www.unigo.com/admissions-advice/once-accepted,-how-do-you-choose-between-colleges/168/1

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PHOTO CREDITS:

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http://67.media.tumblr.com/bcefc93a7ebe7c4c513a86c022aeab11

http://www.hollywoodtake.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public

https://pmchollywoodlife.files.wordpress.com

http://i.perezhilton.com/wp-content/uploads

How to Not Freak Out About Junior Year

A guide on how to handle your junior year so you will be successful senior year.

“Junior year is admittedly the toughest year of high school student’s life, but in every part of life there is a need for balance” -Unknown

Junior Year. Finally, an upperclassman! You’ve gotten through your first two years and now you’re a step closer to your senior year. Don’t let all that get to your head because as a junior, you have more responsibilities which means you must have more accountability. As prom, homecoming, extracurricular, jobs, AP Testing, and etc. come speeding towards you, make sure to keep these four points in mind to have a successful junior year.

Grades! Grades! Grades!

Make sure to keep your grades up. Your junior year transcript as well as your transcripts from your previous years will be the ones you will send to colleges in the fall of your senior year. Make sure you study for your classes, as well as participate, and ask questions if you don’t understand the content. They say that junior year is the hardest year and for good reason. When selecting your classes, be sure to include rigorous courses (i.e. AP classes or any advanced level class). College admission boards really like to see that a student is challenging her/himself with a college-level class in high school. Take about one or two AP Classes a year. I wouldn’t go as far as to take more than three unless you know you will be able to handle the amount of work you will be given.

Procrastination is A Sin!

Procrastination is something you really don’t want to do as a junior. Try to do your homework right after you come home. Be sure to know when your deadlines are so you won’t to be shocked when you have a project due the next day. You don’t want to be stressed with a difficult task because stress equals no success. When you receive a project, start working on it immediately. Spread out the amount of work you need to do within your given time-frame and try to finish it early so you know for sure that you have completed your work. With the extra time, you can use it look for any mistakes and to review your objectives so you know what you’ve done is to your teacher’s accord. With tests, make sure you know when you will be testing whether it’s for the ACT/SAT or just a regular test. And set aside an hour every day to study.

College Research

Junior year is a great time to start compiling a list of colleges you would like to attend. You can meet with your counselor as well as your parents to figure out what major you would like to pursue. While compiling your list, note the admissions requirements of each college to make sure that you would be the right fit. Plan on going on a few college visits during the school breaks so you can really get a feel for the schools you have listed. This will help you narrow down the list of schools to apply to.

Work Hard... Play Hard!

Last but not least, make sure you have some fun. Continue with the extracurricular activities that you enjoy and even take up some more. Colleges like to see that you can balance your school work as well as a few extracurricular activities. As a junior, try to attend as many school sponsored activities such a sports games, school dances, or parades as possible without hindering your grades. Life can’t just be all work and no play.

I hope these tips will help you out these upcoming year. Leave a comment down below if you have any questions. And as always make sure you follow us on Instagram and Facebook.

Sources:

http://rpm-therapy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/discount-student-massage-program-college-and-high-school.png

http://8448-presscdn-0-13.pagely.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Good-Grades.jpg

https://piratenationsurvival.wordpress.com/2015/05/05/take-a-deep-breath-the-junior-year-crisis/

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LOOKING FOR A HIGH SCHOOL OR COLLEGE INTERNSHIP? APPLY HERE!

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http://www.communitycollegereview.com/images

The Wizardry of Junior Year: A Guide to Managing Your Priorities

SAT testing, extracurriculars, AP courses, prom, applying for jobs, volunteer work, getting your driver’s license, and maintaining friendships. All of these things combine to create the most bittersweet era of the high school experience: the dreaded junior year. As you may know, it’s a lot to handle for one person within just ten months, and it is hands-down, the most difficult year, especially considering you are only a year away from sending in applications to your dream schools.

It almost seems impossible, doesn’t it? Staying involved in sports, clubs and work, while still managing your GPA and preparing yourself to receive good scores on all of your exams to keep yourself as “well-rounded” as possible seems like a task designed just for Wonder Woman. Well as challenging as it is, it is also the most critical era, since several of the decisions that you make as well as the outcomes of this school year will have an essential impact on your near future in regards to your college admissions process. As Ben Marcus once wrote, “The impossible is just a blind spot that dissolves if we move our heads fast enough.” So move your heads quickly and learn to master the wizardry of junior year.

Setting Goals for the School Year

A skill that will doubtlessly help you through the rigorous year as well as through the rest of your college admissions journey is setting specific goals for yourself. If you are reading this as a sophomore or as someone about to enter junior year, then you’re right on time to give yourself a head start. Before you start the year, you should try to prepare yourself a “game plan” on what you intend to do and accomplish within the year. You should make a list of all the classes you’ll take and what grades you hope to get in them, the extracurriculars you’ll be participating in and how much time you think you’ll dedicate to them, standardized testing (SATs and ACTs) dates and how much time you’ll devote to studying, and other things that you plan on doing throughout the course of the ten months (such as applying for jobs, volunteer hours, etc). Keep this plan for when you actually attend school in the fall and begin to keep track of what you accomplish and what you don’t. This will help you manage your time and your tasks. Having a clear physical plan for what you want to do will keep you much more organized and relieve the stress and panic of procrastinating to complete things. However, this idea of a plan/agenda will only work effectively if you are totally consistent and determined to do well, so it is absolutely essential to stay focused.

Course Selection

Choosing the right courses in junior year may seem very difficult at first, since a whole new span of options will be made available to you, and you might not know which ones you’ll need. In terms of electives, you should first think about your high school’s graduation requirements, and check to see if you haven’t yet fulfilled some of the required classes. Those classes are the ones you should definitely make sure you enroll in. You should then consider the possible career field that you might want to work with in the future, and select a class or two that correlate with that field. If you’re not sure about the career path you want to follow yet, try signing up for classes that seem interesting to you; definitely do not choose electives that you think you won’t enjoy or be interested in. Now in terms of the levels of difficulty of your classes, you absolutely want to make sure you make the right decisions. You may feel pressured to take 4-5 honors and AP courses, but in most cases, this probably won’t be the right thing to do. Taking challenging classes is obviously something that you should consider in your junior year, as it is something that college admission offices pay close attention to. However, there is always a limit to the amount of rigor that one can handle. Keep in mind when selecting your courses that you’ll need time throughout your days to do other things such as sports or other extracurricular activities. A good amount of AP classes for junior year might be 2-3, depending on your daily schedule and academic interests. When you’re up at 2:00am finishing your AP Bio paper, there’s no doubt that you’ll thank yourself for not taking on that extra AP course.

Beginning the College Search

If you’re a junior and still don’t know what kinds of colleges and schools you want to go to/ apply to, now is the perfect time to start looking. It’s extremely important that you have, at the very least, a general idea of what schools you are looking for before senior year comes around, as you’ll spend the majority of your first semester and the summer before you’re a senior preparing your applications. It may seem slightly difficult to decide what you want to do with your future when it seems so far away in time, but once you’ve indulged yourself in research, you’ll have a much more distinct image of what you want, and your search will become much simpler. You should start by considering all of the contributing elements: location (in-state or out-of-state), type of school (private/public), size, academic programs, intended major(s), cost, financial aid, etc. Many of these you’ll be able to decide yourself, but some may have to be discussed with your counselor or your family before anything is set in stone. It is important that you take as much time as you need to deeply consider which colleges you’ll apply to so that you’ll make the right decision when choosing which one you’ll attend after you graduate. Do not make any impulsive decisions to apply for a school without doing plenty of research beforehand, and do not wait to start looking.

Time Management

As you’re experiencing your junior year adventure, you’ll realize that time management will become more and more difficult to maintain. One thing to keep in mind in order to avoid this from interfering with your grades and academic performance is to not procrastinate. So be efficient, put all distractions aside, complete your work on time, get your projects out of the way, and have all the leisure time you need when you're finished. Trust me on this; it's a lot more satisfying to relax knowing that you've finished all your school work for the day. Try your best to balance school work, extracurriculars, and personal free time. A great tool to keep track of all of your assignments is The HW App, which is available in the Apple Store.

Your Best Friends: Your Counselor and Teachers

Keeping in contact with your counselor and your teachers throughout this year is crucial to your application journey, since these are the people that will be writing your recommendation letters required in your college and scholarship applications. Frequently visiting your counselor to discuss college plans will show him/her that you are serious about getting a higher education, and will give him/her more great things to write about if they decide to write you a letter. Counselors are also one of the best college and education resources that you'll ever have, they'll tell you anything that you need to know about the schools you want to attend, the careers you intend on pursuing, and the classes you'll need to take in high school to get where you want to be. So never be afraid to consult with them and build relationships with them! It's also important that you stay on your teachers’ good sides, since they are the people that observe your dedication and hard work in the classroom, which is something colleges really consider when looking through applications. Remember that although it may not always seem like it, your school’s faculty is always on your side, and will do anything to help you become what you aspire to be.

Self-Motivation and Effort

You will only succeed as far as you’ll allow yourself to be pushed. Being your own number one supporter and motivator is a major key to tackling obstacles such as junior year. You must make yourself want to do well and want to succeed; you won’t get as far as you are able to by telling yourself that you need to do things. You have to want to do them. Put all the effort that you have into each and every one of your assignments, and constantly remind yourself that you’ll succeed if you try your best. Yes, it will be very tiring and time-consuming, and sometimes you’ll want to just BS all of your assignments and take a nap. But keep in mind that hard work will always pay off. Not only will self-dedication help you through the year, it will help you to strive to do better in all of your life obstacles that await your future. You do not want to look back your senior year regretting your grade in a class that lowered your GPA, or disrespecting a potential recommendation letter writer.

So Maybe it’s Not that Hard

Maybe referring to this year as some mysterious sorcery is a bit of an exaggeration. It may seem that way at first, but trust me, you’ll get through it. It’s all a matter of consistency, perseverance, and hard work. As long as you stay focused and keep your goals in mind, you won’t need a magic wand to keep you sane.

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Photo Credit:

http://static1.squarespace.com/static/55aedc93e4b03fe010a8b0ab/t/55f845b0e4b0f5e40ea714f7/1442334133985/goals

http://www.theshare.cn/article/detailp/2994

http://fosteredu.pennfoster.edu/a-closer-look-at-how-the-guidance-counselor-crisis-affects-students