Students face different and unique situations as they enter high school. You experience a new place, new people, and a new social aspect; it can be a challenge to achieve good grades while enjoying all these new opportunities. As a rising sophomore, I will share a few tips and tricks on how you can prepare for your freshman year of high school. Furthermore, I will explain how high school has been a unique experience for me.

My first piece of advice is to work as a volunteer at community service sites and intern at companies over the summer before your freshman year of high school. Meaningful volunteering allows you to contribute to your community while nurturing your inner growth. For example, last summer, I volunteered for Friendship Circle’s summer camp, where we looked after special needs kids by doing fun and exciting activities together such as going swimming, playing soccer, and going to the aquarium. Furthermore, I took a position as a Fundraising Manager for KARMANT Learning (a non-profit organization), where I took charge of all the fundraising activities. I also interned for Park Academy’s Business Development Class where I learned how to develop and grow a business. All these experiences helped me develop a more mature mind, and helped me see the world from a leader’s perspective. I believe that acquiring leaders’ eyes from these experiences can help you be more resourceful. It also makes it easier to accept new knowledge taught in school and apply it to change and improve the world. Not only do these experiences help you improve your college admissions chances, but they also help you build your character. I would highly recommend engaging in different volunteering opportunities that are available. (KARMANT Learning is currently accepting volunteers)

My second piece of advice is to practice good time management and study habits as you enter high school. If you are able to practice time management and good study habits, you will find more free time to spend on activities that you love, while still achieving good grades. For example, if you have a four-hour-long homework assignment and you only have five hours available until your bedtime, you shouldn't be playing video games for three hours and then not have enough time to finish your homework. Instead, you should finish your homework first, and then play video-games in your leftover time. Over the summer you can study topics you had trouble with during middle school. For example, if you had trouble with certain 8th-grade math concepts, review those again. If you have mastered the middle school concepts, you can start working ahead using resources such as Khan Academy.

Another habit that can help you study effectively and efficiently is to create a good study environment at home before school starts. Studies have shown that some factors such as room temperature, quietness, and (small or big) distractions play a factor in a person’s ability to perform well. First of all, the ideal temperature a student can study is 72 degrees Fahrenheit. This means you should try to keep your room temperature between 68-75 degrees. You should also try to keep your room as quiet as possible when studying or doing homework. This means you should try to keep your windows and doors closed even if there is only a small amount of noise coming from outside. Our purpose is to get into a state of deep working which is a state that your brain enters after about 10 minutes of focused studying without any distractions. Deep working would be equivalent to what we call, “being in the zone.” You are completely focused and can do your work exceptionally well. It is very important to make sure that you situate yourself in an environment where there are no distractions whether it be physical or emotional.

My third and final piece of advice is for you to select courses that are most suitable for your strengths and interests. After doing some research, I have figured out that UC colleges and California State schools only use A-G courses to judge your academic competency. A-G courses are academic courses in which each letter represents the following: A- History, B- English, C- Mathematics, D- Science, E- Language Other than English, F-Visual, and Performing Arts. Please refer to the following to access A-G courses for your high school: https://hs-articulation.ucop.edu/agcourselist. High school course lists can also be found on your high school or district website. High schools have a lot of courses that you can take, especially when compared to middle school. Some high schools even give you the option to take multiple electives. We have a mentor who has personal relationships with college admissions officers that can help with you with course selection for free if needed (please reach out to info@karmantlearning.com if you would like this assistance). If you take A-G courses that are good fits for your strengths and interests, it will add to your exciting freshman experience.

To wrap up this blog, I want to emphasize the range of high school electives. While middle schools offer very basic and restricted elective choices, high schools offer more variety and exciting choices. This makes it easier to explore your interests in high school and choose ones that particularly interest you. High school also brings in the addition of sports teams. If you like a sport and want to represent your school in it, try out for a team. You will have lots of fun and you can opt-out from P.E. if you do so (P.E at most schools just involves running around a track, so playing in a sports team is my recommended option if you like a particular sport). High school also offers more freedom than middle school. You no longer have passing periods and can do what you enjoy during your free time. Finally, you will be able to meet more new friends in high school since most high schools involve merging multiple middle schools into one.

That’s going to wrap it up for this blog. If you would like to see my series on the KARMANT Learning YouTube channel where I teach study tricks click here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWikXbWRcWcdfAeC2x6fc9pSxrLH-Ybav . I hope to see you guys either at my YouTube videos or at my next blog post! Thank you!