ATTN: wise parents of CC, umm help out this HS student

Parent Cafe
1

<p>I was thinking the other night on why I dont do so hot in school. I know I am intelligent, my Dad is an MIT & IIT grad, and not to sound too cocky but I have inhereited his brain to a certain extent. But for some reason I dont do so well in school. I am in the honors/AP classes and have been since freshmen year, but only on my parents insistance. Until seriously till I discovered this site, I didn’t care about my academics. Nor did I realise my full academic potential. </p>

<p>Anyway speaking of my freshmen to sophomore years, I survived now I am realising purely on my reasoning skills, let me explain. Sophomore year global studies I didn’t really do any homework or read the textbook, I just wasnt that motivated, but somehow I managed to pull through with a B+ (88-90) or sometijmes if I stayed up too late a lower B/C. I did this on almost all my classes and pulled As and B+s, and yes I am now very ashamed to say a few Cs. This sorta apathetic behavior stemms now, in retrospect from my middle school years where I moved from my old school in California to a new school in Conneticut and left all my friends, im going to save you all the tears and everything and just say that the change wasnt easy, because the people in my school were slackers and by taking a basic psychology class you know that in the middle school years children imitate their peers over what their parents will rational into them. Unfortunatly I adopted this behavior and it has become a part of me, as I procastinate when I shouldn’t (like right now) and generally speaking put things off. I am trying to change that by making a schedule, but I have a hard time following it. I still put things off! And then I look at the clock and it says 9:30 and I get home @ 2:30 and its like w.t.f where did my day go? </p>

<p>sample day:
6:00 get up
7:00 leave for school
2:00 school out
2:30 Home
3:00 Colbert Report ends
/
|
|
|
|
/
9:30 I just looked at the clock and I cannot understand where I lost all that time, I know I did an hour of workouts, watched the daily show @ 8:00, ate dinner from 8:30 - 9:00, and the rest? ughh I hate my self for wasting it by not doing school work, its kinda a vicious continous cycle I just cant get my self out of. On a more postive note I have adopted a consistent study routine for the SAT, I make my self follow the Xiggi method (check the SAT prep board), and I practice daily (June test I want to break the 2300 barrier) . Tough goal? yea :slight_smile: </p>

<p>but since you all have sent your children to good colleges, Im wondering what you advise me to do. Realization has hit me hard, train wreck hard, and now im trying to reverse everything, but I have been programmed otherwise so long in the other direction that it’s hard to not just do a few problems, feel fulfilled and spend the rest of my time doing ‘mental mastirbations’</p>

<p>I just thought id add, that my learning style isnt the classroom type. I usually cant learn ANYTHING from my teachers. I forced my self for 2 weeks to take down detrailed notes in everyclass, I didnt understand anything and my hand hurt. But when my favorite show ‘the chapelle show’ got cancelled or D.C. quit the show I spent that 30 minutes teaching my self Pre Calc for the final, (this was towards the end of the year, and my teacher had a rep for being a BAD teacher and a TOUGH test maker) and I didnt pay attention in class, and by reviewing my self on my own terms I got a 93 which is the second highest grade (highest being 94, lol the test was that hard). The thing is this works both ways, at school I know that the teachers arent really teaching as much as instructing on what I should or should not know. But then when I get home I dont feel like teaching my self all the things all over again.</p>

<p>I know this is a mouthful of info, and take it as you may, constructive criticism appreciated…took a lot to let me get this out though</p>

2

<p>The honest truth is that your problems are extremely commonplace.
Motivation, leading to hard work, is allways the largest factor for success.
I know exactly how you feel. I know you want to succeed. I know you have trouble pushing yourself. I do too. Allways have. We just have to find a method to remind ourselves of what we are doing. Remind yourself of how you are wasting your time. I wrap a paper bracelet around my pinky finger when I’m not doing something constructive. It reminds me that I’ll have to stop soon.</p>

<p>P.S.- I’m a high school senior. And I got rejected or waitlisted from all my colleges except my safety.</p>

3

<p>Find a productive activitie for after school, community service and all that…if you like animals, volunteer at the local pound or zoo…, if you like people find a local organization to help out…try to get interested in a hobby…read a book…write an article for a newspaper… good luck…</p>

4

<p>As far as where the time goes, I know I can waste a lot of time on the internet checking my e-mail, reading and posting on cc, and checking the news on cnn. I have found it helpful to not let myself touch the computer until my homework is done. Not that I always follow my own rule, but it is a good general guideline. I don’t really watch much t.v., but I guess you could make the same rule for it.</p>

5

<p>Here’s a suggestion that I used for my own kids when they either wasted time or had difficulty starting because they had an overwhelming amount of homework. </p>

<p>When you get home from school, the very first thing, make yourself an itinerary, writing your schedule for the evening hour by hour. For example, 3:00 -4:00 work out, 4:00-4:20 Spanish vocab, 4:30-5:30 Math problems, 5:30-6:00 check email, 6:00-7:00 Practice music, 7:00-7:20 review science, etc, etc, etc. Just estimate…you’ll get better at it before long.</p>

<p>This accomplishes a few things. First, it forces you to evaluate how long each activity should take. Second, you can manage your time and see when you are getting behind. Finally, it encourages you on busy days by letting you see that you actually can get everything done. </p>

<p>Notice, the schedule does not include random IM-ing or random talking on the phone every time somebody calls. It really is okay to say that you will call back later. Also, reward yourself when you are done. Watch TV, surf the internet or w/e. </p>

<p>Clearly, you feel that you are underachieving. Do yourself a favor and get organized ;)</p>