Wow time really flies when you are BUSY! 7th grade has brought a lot more homework and managing my time has been a challenge. My schedule basically consists of going to school, training, doing homework, and training some more. This may not sound like a lot, but for me, it adds up quickly. I have really high standards for myself when it comes to my school work. So, if a teacher assigns a written paper, or note-taking, or preparing for a test, I like to be very thorough. Sometimes an assignment is meant to take 20-30 minutes but I have 5 teachers giving homework. I want to use the assignments to truly benefit and learn so I tend to take a little more time with them. A lot of what we learn is really interesting!
Unfortunately, this means I take a little longer than others to complete my work to my satisfaction. I really like all of my classes, especially history, science, technology, and math. Here’s where my time management becomes a challenge. After a full day at school, I look forward to having a quick snack and relaxing. I usually have less than 2 hours before I need to get ready for practice and on some days, I will go for a 30-40 minute run BEFORE practice. If I enjoy my “rest” time too long, then I end up having to do all my homework after practice and after dinner, which is usually around 8:30pm. Many nights I will have 3 hours of homework which puts me to bed at 11:30pm. If I need to type something up, I will usually get up at 5:30 the next morning to do this before school.
My parents are always on me about getting more sleep. I know this is so important so I keep juggling things around to prioritize my sleep more. A lot of people tell me that my grades don’t matter in middle school. Matter to who? They may not matter to colleges, but what I get out of my time spent in school matters to ME. Everything I do. Every challenge, every mistake– these are all my teachers. They are brought to me for a reason and I’m not going to miss out on any opportunities to grow.
I just learned about a very special tree- the Chinese Bamboo. Unlike a normal tree that grows gradually and slowly, the Chinese bamboo tree doesn’t grow at all for 4 years. Then all of a sudden, in its 5th year, the thing grows something like 90 feet in 5 weeks! These trees are extremely strong and resilient. I am amazed by this story. During that time that it is not growing tall, it is actually growing tremendously, behind the scenes.. It is building a massive and magnificent roots system which sets it up and enables it to grow at lightning speed later on. Wow!
I’d like to think that in some way I’m like a bamboo seed. And that right now, I’m building an amazing roots system that one day will not only make me 90 feet tall, but bullet proof, too 🙂 While it’s exciting to think about all that lies ahead, I find that all of the “behind-the-scenes” action is pretty fun, too. How’s your root system coming along?
