As graduation is rapidly approaching, I think its safe to say that I survived high school. As a senior, I’ve had to deal with just about every stereotypical problem that a high school student has come across. From struggling with grades to dealing with drama, you name it, and I’ve gone through it.

As a big sister, it’s hard for me to watch my freshman sister go through some of the same things that I did, but at least I can help her. So that’s why I’m writing this: to help everyone who doesn’t have that big sister, who doesn’t know what to do, or who just doesn’t want to listen to their parents because they “don’t know what you’re going through”. I’m here to help you survive high school.

Being a senior, my school life is pretty simple. I get a very limited amount of homework, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t had my fair share. Here it’s almost impossible to get through the week without having to do homework every night. But doing homework can be difficult when you’re involved in extracurricular activities. There is no feeling worse then getting home from a long rehearsal or practice and realizing you have about two hours of homework. So here’s a few tips and trick to help to survive.

Whatever you do, don’t freak out. The worse possible thing you can do is think about the amount of homework you have. As soon as you get into that state of mind, you’re in trouble. If you get into that state of mind, you’re going to do one of two things: rush through your homework and not put any effort into it, or you’re going to look at it and say “Whatever, I don’t care. I’m just going to fail and I don’t care”.

The next day you’ll walk into the class with an empty sheet and feel like an idiot, because now it’s late, and you still have to do it, creating more homework. Just look at what you have, don’t think about it, and get it done. Eat a snack to help keep you up, like an apple or plain popcorn, and stay away from energy drinks. And as much as you want to put up your homework and sleep, get it done, you can sleep later.

Another thing that is SO important is the use of your time. If you have time in class to work on your homework, do it. As hard as it is to not socialize, just get as much done as you can and socialize after. Even if you have time in another class, do it in there. What ever it is, it can wait. If you have the opportunity to do your work ahead of time, DO IT.

Of course the final tip is an obvious one, but it so true: don’t procrastinate. Balance your time by writing down deadlines in planners or sticky notes to keep reminding yourself to do it. If you split it up ahead of time, and do a little bit each day or every other day, it won’t be as overwhelming. Doing it ahead of time will also give you the opportunity to ask the teacher for help if you need it, instead of turning it in wrong and saying you didn’t know how to do it.

At the same time, if you are sick, and miss school, get in contact with your teacher as soon as possible. If you’re going to be home all day doing nothing, might as well do some of the work that you would be doing anyway, that way when your return to school, you won’t have a lot to do the next day. If you get out of the procrastination habit early, you’ll learn how to deal with it in the future.

Homework is never going to go away, as long as you’re in school, you’re going to have it. You can’t control the amount you have, but you can control the way you can do it. Getting homework in and doing it right will help keep your grades up and keep you, and your parents, happy. And what’s better than surviving high school happy?