When will the Work be Done? Never

Pre-College Topics High School Cafe
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My parents come home everyday asking me “when will your homework will be done”? Or “when do you think you’ll have time to…” Today I told my father never because that’s honestly what it feels like. I’m in my junior year of high school working to get sat,act,PSAT scores together, summer programs /research together, and college plans together. My work feels like it is never done. When I finish one assignment there are 10 more waiting. People say you can’t complain about the work you create for yourself, why not? Everything in life worth any bit of your effort is difficult and your going to want to vent. So I opened up this discussion for you, whoever you are, whatever your standing in school ,whateve race or gender to vent, let it go! Just because your a straight A student doesn’t mean you can’t express yourself good or bad.

I’d also like to note that though I do vent on occasion I make sure to get all necessary work done and be positive member of society, but the important lesson to accept is that positive doesn’t mean perfect.

& to all the negative Nancy’s who are going to be like “you don’t have to do this” or "you (insert verb they think is impactful) (insert lesson they want to get across) save it! This isn’t the discussion for that.

Peace, Love, and Bre.

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@brendauo101‌
I know how you feel. These last couple years have been rollercoasters for me (I’m a HS senior right now). Junior year was intense. I had a really rigorous schedule and had a lot of homework, plus a lot of extracurriculars. There were a lot of sleep-deprived weeks in there.
My parents often ask me why I make school so hard for myself (I’m taking a fairly rigorous schedule, but not as bad as junior year, but could’ve done WAY easier).

My answer is simply that I know I can do it. I know I have the potential. Doing anything less than what I know I can do simply feels like missed opportunity.
A lot of times, I feel I cannot relax because I know there is stuff for me to do, that I feel I should do with my free time (gah, finals are next week). Turning off that feeling is really difficult for me. But it needs to happen.
Somehow I made it through junior year without incident. However, this year, I finally knew what it felt like to be too stressed. Between my senior research paper being due (a graduation requirement), bowling team, work after school, clubs, and college applications, I was just stressed. One day, I couldn’t take it anymore. I broke down. I panicked, I cried (yes, I’m man enough to say this :(( B-) ), and I was simply overwhelmed with the stress. I couldn’t focus, I couldn’t work, and I couldn’t see the end to all the stress.
My parents suggested that I needed to take some time away from all of it. Not like miss school or anything, but just come home and watch Netflix and play video games or work on some of my electronics projects for a day. I can honestly say that this was one of the best things I could have done. I took a day off, came back to my applications and research paper, and was able to function pretty well from there. There were a couple of other times I really just needed to take a break, but I didn’t let myself get to the point of a total breakdown before taking one.

What’s the point of all this? Just a reminder that sometimes, you need to take time for yourself. I totally understand what you are going through. I’ve been there. I’ve been down the road where no matter how far you look, it seems that the work will never go away. But one of the hardest things to do on that road is stop for a minute, and rest your legs.
I encourage you to find that balance between your work and time for yourself. It took a long time to find mine. In fact, that is one of the things I wish I had done junior year - stress less, and enjoy life as a junior. You only get to experience it once. Make it memorable. There is obviously a time and place to crack the whip and get work done, but there is also a time where you just need to relax, go out with some friends, go sledding, climb a tree, and just enjoy life.

I won’t discourage you from doing this much work. If you think you can handle it, then go for it, and rock it. But there might come a time when you need to take a step back, relax, and breathe.

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@ARandomGeek‌ You summed everything up exceptionally. I feel weird when I don’t do the most that I can because I know I have so much potential. Also, my parents are similar to yours regarding the fact that they want me to do well but they don’t understand why I stress out as much as I do. I’m working hard to find a balance and I appreciate you taking the time out to write such a great response.

I Hope you achieve all your life goals!

Peace, Love, and Bre

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Is this how hectic high school gets? I’m still a freshman… :stuck_out_tongue:

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I know how you feel. I am a junior as well, and have faced similar issues with my parents ever since freshman year. Just stay positive and true to yourself. Parents do not understand how stressful high school/college life can be these days compared to their time back then. Balancing is just an act that takes time, no one will ever be 100% perfect at it. Best of luck to you, I know you will accomplish great things! :slight_smile:

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@Anish14‌ Enjoy it while it lasts and maximize your freshmen year opportunities as much as possible, get involved as early as possible in the things you love and earn high marks. Hopefully 3 years from now you’ll be able to write in this post about how your junior year was and if you can relate.

Pace, Love,and Bre

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We’re in this together class of 2016!, thanks for the vote of confidence and I know you will accomplish great things as well , the fact that we’ve had to balance so much and survived is a feat in it self

Peace, Love,and Bre

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@brendauo101‌
ahhh everyone tells me to enjoy my free time, and that only worries me!

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@anish14 don’t be worried be prepared, high school is the time where you work your ass off and it might not(definitely not) be the most fun, teachers will try to bring you down, friends will try to distract you, it will get overwhelming at times but the biggest advice I can give you is to make a plan and stick to it and make sure you keep all your options open. You don’t want to be that senior that never tried or didn’t at least brain storm what they want to do after high school when it’s time to apply to colleges. Middle school I was not the greatest kid, I was in and out of the office, detentions, principal office several times, and parent teacher conferences but I knew when middle school was over the nonsense was too. Since starting high school I’ve done a complete 360, I have straight A’s on my transcript, I’m the only junior in my class taking AP Calc because I’m a year ahead, I’m part of several clubs, won scholarships, partnered with companies in several projects, and even got flown out of the country by Johnson & Johnson for a business trip/program. Me and middle school principal met for disciplinary actions,etc. My high school principal and I are so cool I bought him a shot glass when I traveled on my business trip.

I’m telling you all of this not to brag but to show you that hard work pays off.

Fooling around in your academics is like fooling around with your future.

Find something meaningful and run with it, start a movement, join a club, be a leader, and be task-oriented!

I wish you the best of luck because if I knew some of the things I know now I would have done 9th grade differently.

Peace, Love, and Bre

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@southernbelle16 I meant to @ you in post #6 not sure what happened lol

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@‌brendauo101 Haha that’s fine! :slight_smile:

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I’m really grateful for this thread- being an ambitious junior is exhausting (just want to get it over with, or at least get enough sleep) and I really hope it pays off!

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After finishing AP Bio (during junior year) I wrote my future classmates a 3 page letter about how to not go crazy junior year. It was equipped with lots of biology learning guides and studies to back up every tip I gave. I was very proud of it. Here’s a summary

  1. Exercise. Seriously. Just a little
  2. Eat well. Seriously. Just small changes.
  3. Do something for every class everyday. Just a little bit on more quiet days really adds up.
  4. Take breaks in studying. 30 minutes of homework, 5 minute break, rinse and repeat.

In essence, I agreed a lot with what @ARandomGeek‌ said.

Another trick I learned. The people who are most successful are constantly working and learning, and that’s their life. Find parts of things that interest you in each subject and learn to develop an interest in your academic material. When things matter, they are easier. In a sense, the homework never does end, so it’ll be good to make it interesting when you can.

Any who, good luck and remember to stay classy.

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@crimes I know right!( it’s currently past 11pm and I just reviewed the next chapter for a calc lesson tomorrow @-) ). My sleeping patterns are a mess.

Although I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that I’ve seen the effort of people who stood in our shoes pay off several times, my mentor I’ve had since 9th grade graduated with a full scholarship to Harvard. I think as juniors now we’ll go through this rough patch and we won’t see immediate results but they’ll come in due time and be worth the wait. We also won’t have to pay much or anything to get into college if we keep on the paths we are know.

Best of luck to you my friend! :slight_smile:

Peace, Love, and Bre

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@julianstanley‌ Your a gem :slight_smile: . I take AP Bio next year becuase the supervisor refused to put me in the class my junior year. I feel like one of your study guides would be priceless since I hear AP Bio is very difficult. I’m going to implement your tips into my routine (most of them are what I’ve been trying to do so far). Thanks for your response and the best of luck to you as well! :slight_smile:

Peace, Love, and Bre

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Junior year is baaaad. Really bad. At least it was for me. Seriously, the whole year went by in a blur.

I felt exactly like you do. I was doing all this work, it was my 11th year of school, I had always done the hardest classes, and yet nothing was really paying off. Everyone always says “it’ll pay off later in life, just wait 'til college/job/etc.”

This is the point where a lot of kids stop working. Right when they’re almost at the end. The finishing stretch. I’ve seen seniors slack off and not apply to the colleges they wanted to because the apps were too much work (after taking soooo many AP classes and SATs/ACTs/123s). It’s frustrating to watch, and really disappointing.

Just my experience. I didn’t win anything major (or even close to major) until the VERY END of my junior year. I had spent years working my butt off with no payoff… just about all of my classmates have no idea what I’m up to most of the time. For example, I often came into my Spanish class without doing my homework. They thought I was slacking off. In reality, I was up until 2 studying for exams (I had a test every other day for the WHOLE YEAR) and working on my science project.

Anyway, at the end of my junior year, I suddenly started winning things (science fairs, etc.), getting great internship offers, etc. It’s been amazing since then. I’m a senior, and I have been experiencing the payoff BIG TIME.

FYI, I took even harder classes this year (but without the pressure of getting As, I’m taking a few classes at a university just for knowledge, no official grade) to prepare for college. So the work never stops.

But winning a few times really gives you the incentive to keep going. Don’t stop working… work harder. It’ll feel good. On the other hand, if you back off now, the work you’ve done goes to waste.

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I know this all too well. I am a senior too and now that I am getting ready to choose colleges but my parents always told me to work hard in high school to get into a good college and I did this. I got accepted to a lot of colleges that I liked and me and my parents agreed on but then we looked at how we’d be paying for this and even with the substantial sum they saved it’s not enough for me to go were I want for 4 years. I feel pretty mad about this because I feel like I worked hard all of high school to be able to go to a great college and now I will probably end up going to a CC and then transfer due to finances. (nothing wrong with CC I just felt like I would have rather done a four year university.) I know this sounds super conceited and entitled but it’s how I feel and I just needed to let it out.

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@Stanccepted Thanks so much for your response, for the past two weeks since coming back from winter break school has been especially trying and not just where academics are concerned(People keep working my patience with their nonsense). My hardest marking period is normally 2nd marking period and I’m really feeling the struggle right now. It’s a often difficult to juggle extracurriculars, school work,clubs, etc. I’m not going to stop working becuase I want the internships, awards,opportunists, etc. but man is it tough! [-O< .

I hope you continue to do well in all your endeavors and accomplish several if not all of your goals!

Peace, Love, and Bre

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@EaglezFreak‌ Stop it! You neither conceited nor entitled. Everyone(or almost everyone, including myself) wants to go to a four year college. It’s great that a lot of colleges you liked accepted you and sometimes we have to work with the cards dealt to us. So yes you’ll have to go to a CC and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, both my sisters and my mom went to CC and I even took a course over the summer at my local one and I loved it. CC isn’t a death sentence but a place equipped with helping you figure out your next steps. With this new opportunity you can go onto to do bigger things; community colleges are filled clubs, internship/job opportunities, and support for all your endeavors. Think big! Strive far!

I believe in you, your future, and your aspirations!

And remember it has to rain for it to shine.

Peace, Love, and Bre

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I love everyone’s stories & to all of the viewers (since there is 400+) of you feel free to share, this is an open and honest thread, let it go yeah?