School can be stressful and overwhelming. Throughout my years in school, I have faced many challenges and obstacles that I thought I would never overcome—for example, test anxiety, loads of homework and finding motivation. 

In high school, my classes’ workload and difficulty really changed from the past. AP exams, the TSI and SAT prep were just a few extra things added on to my to-do list. I felt like the work was never-ending and felt defeated because I wanted to do good, but it was just too much. I decided I didn’t want to feel this way anymore and be more positive. 

I took a step back and realized that I did not want to stress myself out over an A or just regular assignments. I have learned that to succeed, you have to fail sometimes. Therefore, I started planning out what was most important to me and started from there. Finding the balance between school and outside activities was hard but manageable. I did my homework and then went out to experience other things that made me happy and enjoy myself because I deserved it. There was no point in me doing homework all day for five days of the week because, in reality, work was always going to be there. I accepted that I needed to go with the flow more and keep on moving because school shouldn’t consume all of me even though it is one of my top priorities. 

I still struggle sometimes and find myself getting frustrated over school, however, that’s normal. Instead of feeling that way, I just push through so it’s one less of a task to carry. The biggest lesson I learned with school and time management is that in life, you’re going to have to miss out on something and not everything works out perfectly. Keeping this in mind, I get my work done and focus on myself because everything will be okay no matter if I fail a test or have hours of homework every night. School is a big part of me but does not define me.