High school is a big place and a big change in pace compared to middle school.

This is where ideas such as what you want to work for, where you want to go to college, how to graduate, and other thoughts start to wander into your mind. All of that on top of the stress of your social life, homework, and maybe a part time job can make it really stressful. So this article is meant to help you find the balance and give some advice.

It’s important to give yourself a challenging course load but not enough to where you’re struggling to keep up in your classes. Make your classes hard but manageable. On top of that, it is always important to have off hours, you don’t need to fill up your schedule to the brim to try and achieve all of your credits right away and it can help with doing homework from other classes or just taking a break to unwind.

If you need help it’s important to know that you can go to your teachers for help, go to the counselors office and talk to your counselor, or talk to other students if it’s about the class you’re taking. 

It’s also important to not procrastinate and ask for help when you need it. A lot of people say this but it holds true, when you miss one assignment it is really easy for it to keep building and miss more assignments. Having a planner, using your phone reminders, or your calendar to keep track of your homework assignments or projects is always a great help to make sure you stay on track. Another thing I noticed is if you kind of want to go do something else I realized it’s easier to keep your focus on your assignment by setting time limits for yourself. For example, if you want to play The Sims but you have a math assignment and book notes due the next day you can play for twenty minutes then knock out one assignment then back and forth. 

Taking classes you enjoy is also a really big help to make sure you enjoy your time in high school but to also make your homework less unbearable. Wheat Ridge High School offers a variety of electives that we often don’t know about, such as introductory business, yoga, team sports, ceramics, jewelry, newspaper, yearbook, computer programming, med prep, photography, and senate. You can find the right electives for you when signing up for classes, talking to your counselors, or teachers and see more of the variety that Wheat Ridge has to offer.

The last final piece of advice is to not worry about what others think of you. Once you come to the realization that everyone is just living their own lives, that everyone has their own quirks, and that everyone is just as weird as each other, life will become easier. There isn’t a need to stress about keeping up with the latest fashion trends or a friend group that isn’t healthy for you. Surround yourself with positive people and be yourself, because no one is going to care or remember in a few years. Hopefully this advice will help you out in the future and good luck! High school isn’t as scary as it seems and you´ll get the hang of it quite early on.