I'm getting really stressed out and confused over this and i just need help. Alright, i'm a junior in high school and i just started this September. It's just the beginning of school and i'm already killing myself. My schedule is really hard, i have all these tough classes. Regular junior classes are hard enough, but on top of that i'm taking two advanced placement classes, which are basically college classes. I want to take these classes because they give college credits, but ONLY if you pass the final exam at the end of the year. I already feel like i'm failing one of those classes, and i don't know if i can pull through at the end and pass the exam. I really want to do good this year, because i know that college mainly looks at your junior year since you barely do anything as a senior.I want to get into a good college, but at the same time i also want to enjoy my junior year. After school i have a job 4 days a week. So basically after school i go to work, when i get off work i come home and then i have to do homework, and i feel like i have no time for myself. Then the days i don't work, i go home and i finish homework so i can relax the rest of the day. I barely even have time to hang out with my friends anymore. This whole month of school so far, i haven't even gone out during the weekend, either because i'm too busy, or because i'm too tired because i didn't get enough sleep the week before. I feel like i'm doing to much. I mean i want to do good this year so i can go to a good college and have my future set. I'm just really stressed out because i don't know if i should just enjoy myself right now, or focus on school more. I just don't want to tell myself in the future "I should have enjoyed my life more when i was younger" or "I should have focused more on school instead". I usually tell myself that if i focus on school more this year, i'll have senior year and in college to party and enjoy my life. But then i'm afraid that i would have lied to myself, and probably be that person who stays in every night and studies, and never goes out and my whole teenage years went to waste and then after i graduate out of college i'll be one of those people who works 24/7 and is never happy. I really don't know what to do i don't want to screw up my future...
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Really confused...
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It's only a good idea to do extra classes if they will give you more passes. Sometimes by doing extra classes students pass less than they would have passed if they had concentrated on fewer classes. Does the school have an academic advisor you could talk to? They have seen a lot of students' results, and can advise from a lot of experience.Also, do you need to do as many hours of paid work as you are doing?
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I think it's all about finding a balance. How? I have no idea! It's something I've been struggling with for years. At the moment, I'm in my senior year in high school and I'm what you yourself described as one of those people who stays in every night and studies. Our school library closes at 8pm (I stay till the last minute of course), i then go home and study till about midnight. This is on top of two instruments, one to which I have to dedicate an hour a day to (I do this during my lunch break) and the other, piano, a minimum of one and a half hours as I have an exam at the end of November. I go into school early and play in the music roon from approximately 7am to 9am. I, like yourself, am holding down a part-time job on Saturdays by the very skin of my teeth, I wouldn't be surprised if I got fired soon as my boss expects me to do more hours than I physically have available.As for friends, I don't have enough time, and I don't even think the people I'm closest to care a whole lot about me, after all, I hardly ever see them. I was going out with a guy last year, but I didn't put in enough to keep it going, which caused his eye to wander. Of course, this is just me and my extreme schedule. Reading the threads on A2A when I get home and making occasional responses are my idea of recreation. I can't, by a long shot, tell you what to do, but I just thought I'd tell you about my life so that after reading it you may realise where your priorities lie - in academics or otherwise. I don't know how...but maybe, just maybe it might help!!!As for the AP classes, why don't you keep them up till around Halloween and see how you're getting on. If you're still struggling, don't nescessarily give one up, unless you really have to, but keep trying. College has a huge impact on what it is that you will be doing for the rest of your life, and which college you attend can really make a difference. After all, life rarely gives out freebies or second chances. So it's really up to you work the amount you feel is nescessary, so that one day, when you're old and grey you can look back on your life with a smile.
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Yeah i do have a guidance counselor and he told me to just wait until the first semester is over and i get my grades to see what i should do.And about the job, i need because i need to help my parents out. It's just one less trouble for them to be having to pay everything for me like my clothes, things i need, school lunch. And also i've been going to the doctors and my ENT at least twice a month, if its not one thing its another thing. And i'm getting surgery soon and i know i have to help my parents out on that. And plus i haven't really saved up for college or a car or anything and i need to start doing that.But last night i finally went out after all this time, and i feel a lot better.