As I conclude my junior year at magnet, I feel it is necessary to leave some advice to the rising sophomore and junior classes on how to survive the more difficult times at magnet. Junior year is considered the most complex and vital year of your high school experience. It will get overwhelming and seem as if there are never-ending assignments. I found that this year was 100% the most hectic. Therefore, here are some of my lessons throughout this year.

Summer Reading Advice: 

1st piece of advice for any student is to plan out your summer work, especially if you choose to take AP Lang. I was not as intelligent and decided to start in mid-July. However, this will be the first summer working for some of you, and you will find that the time will slip away fast. With four books to read for just English and wanting to enjoy summer, start early. You do not want to start this class with a bad grade on the summer reading quiz. The first time you walk into this class, you will be taking a quiz..be prepared.

AP Seminar:

AP seminar is an enforced class that you must prepare for. This class will teach you a lot of fantastic writing skills and time management. Even though it is tempting to fall behind on your assignments, my advice is that they will be lengthy and time-consuming… I repeat…do not do this. Whatever it takes, falling behind in this class is similar to a death wish, and I would strongly recommend steering away from what seems like a rabbit hole if you choose to fall behind.

Math Courses: 

You will quickly find out that math classes at magnet are never easy. As many of you will be approaching Pre-Calcor Cal, you must study!! If you are taking Calculus, I will warn you it is not like any of the math classes you have taken before. Very little algebra is needed, and the concepts do not leave… ever. Therefore, make sure you understand them at the beginning of the year. I assumed they would go away and I could “take the L” on one exam; however, this is not the case. For Pre-cal and Cal, homework is considered optional, however, do not think of it this way. Make sure you practice and come to class with questions on the homework. It will pay off for quizzes and tests, and with these classes not having homework, grades will be sparse, and if you are planning to keep a good grade, you must do well on about every quiz and test.  The math teachers will be more than happy to assist you with understanding content.

Physics: 

Physics can seem like an intimidating subject; however, this class is structured to see you succeed. You will receive many grades such as labs, notes, and homework. Therefore, if you complete these assignments and do decent on assessments, you will succeed. A warning to students, though, is that no late work is accepted in this course, no exceptions. To prevent any complications, I suggest uploading your notes and homework the nights you do them; therefore, you will at least receive some credit for the assignments.

Foreign Language: 

My most significant emphasis is that a Spanish dictionary or any translator is not your friend for these classes. These classes all build upon each other, so it will come back and hurt you if you cheat on homework or in-class assignments. Most teachers understand how everyone can be on different levels of the language; therefore, make sure to learn and go at your own pace and not take corners; at the end of the day, it is not worth it.   

History:

My advice is to just study and take notes. Read the textbook, but I have not and still manage to do well. So, for me, at least listening in class and taking notes that I knew would benefit me while studying is how I have been able to do well in all my history classes at magnet, including AP Euro. However, I know other students would say reading the textbook is critical, so, for history classes, it is just a balance that is individual.

Conclusion: 

No matter what, you must find a balance that suits your needs. Social life and having time for yourself is just as critical as having straight A’s. Get your sleep as well; I cannot stress this enough. I have had to miss school days to catch up on sleep, and I wished I had instead just gone to bed earlier the night before, as sleep is essential to do well. Make sure to write assignments that need to be done by a planner or the reminder app on your phone and laptop are both great options to make sure you have deadlines planned out.