A New Year
It’s not actually a new year, but with midterms over and a new semester, it feels like it. To me at least, my entire dynamic at school feels like it has changed. Last year, I only took full year classes (besides gym), which meant the semester change didn’t feel like anything. However, this year I ended up switching about half my schedule. The changes themselves were not so dramatic, but the new classes with new people makes it seem as if I have started an entirely new school year.
We’re now about a week into the new semester, and I can confidently say two things:
1. Having a productive free period is great.
Last quarter (half a semester) was the first time I didn’t take a free period. As a junior, you have a required semester of gym and health. Having soccer and wanting to take 7 classes, I decided to take gym over the summer. I actually enjoyed the class because it forced me to wake up early, and with that came a chance to play soccer later in the afternoon once class was finished. Pretty much, that credit allowed me to take a free period during the first quarter to help balance my workload with the season, but I didn’t make the most of it. It was still definitely needed as a time to relax and de-stress, but I didn’t get much work done largely because I had friends in the period. So, the blocks of time typically turned into getting work out of my backpack, starting it, seeing a friend, talking with that friend, and then doing maybe a singular math problem with a few minutes left. Sophomore year was chess, and freshman year was just talking. This year, for the second semester, where I now have a concrete free period, my goal is to make the most of the free period to get as much work done as possible — something that I have already done this past week.
2. If you’re not good at art, take photography.
Since elementary school, I knew that art was not in my future. And by art, I mean traditional drawing and painting landscapes or battles. Don’t get me wrong, I love looking at beautiful art, and I fully appreciate its cultural significance, but I just don’t have the ability to draw or blend colors. Instead, as a more STEM based person, I am far better at the “digital arts”, or in my case, photography. Photography allows you to make art essentially instantaneously, and at Staples, if you do good work, it turns into a free period. Now with a free period, I almost use my photography period to do the de-stressing, which allows me to be more productive during my actual free period.
Some Future Stuff
I would say my most significant shift for this upcoming semester was English, as I started a new class called Literacy, Identity, and Community, or in other words, English 1007. I have only had it a week so far, but it seems really interesting. The whole thing is centered around multi-modal composition, which basically means English class, but more than just writing and reading. From friends who took it first semester, you make podcasts, give interviews, and learn to present your findings in other ways than quotes and analysis.
But that’s all, thanks for reading and have a nice day.
