When I started first semester, I was happy to start out fresh. I wanted to do my best in school. I finished all of my homework as soon as possible and studied hard for tests. But, after a while the rigorous pace of trying to learn everything possible; I got burned out. My life outside of school was too busy for me to do every assignment perfectly. I realize now that I have to accept imperfection. All that I can do is give every assignment my best effort and complete them on time.
Another thing that I have realized in the course of first semester is that, when reading a book for English, reading it closely and being focused the first time pays off. When looking back in the book to refresh for a paper, I don't see any information as brand new. Learning something right before a paper or test is not a good thing. This is especially true with social studies; I find that now I don't have to re-read everything to understand concepts. What really benefits is trying to explain the concepts in my own words to see if I understand them.
During first semester; I found about halfway into October that I was feeling tired most of the time. I was staying up late into the night doing homework and studying for tests. I would come home from school, take a fifteen minute break, practice until dinner, eat, do homework, and then eventually go to sleep. I still keep this same schedule now; but I try and divide my homework up so that I am not overloaded on any given day (although this still seems to happen on Thursdays for some reason). What I have also realized is that if I pay close attention in class; the homework and preparing for exams are easier and take up less time to complete. This gives me a little extra sleep; which then helps me focus during the day.
In the past, I tended to see English as an easy and light-loaded class. I was hoping that this year's work load would be similar to last year, but I was a bit nervous too. I was wondering how grading would work, whether I would get high grades, and how the entire class' attitude would be. The very beginning of first semester, there was a general sense of unsureness. That is normal, though; every year starts with the unknowns. I was happy to find myself looking forward to when I would finish all of my homework and leave English for last (mostly with the blogs). Now that I know how to deal with the work load; I know how to structure my time effectively. I've settled into a comfortable routine with my classes and I am glad that I had first semester to figure it all out.
