When it comes to high school, senior year is idealized as the time where you take a break from the academic pressure. Usually the average high school senior ends up taking easier classes, is often late, and usually skips class every now and then. But despite movies and TV showing this stereotype, most of the time that isn’t the case. 

Going into my senior year, I wanted to challenge myself by taking challenging classes. I was supposed to take AP Calculus, AP Biology, AP English Literature, and AP Government and Economics, but as the year started, I realized that this schedule was unrealistic since I struggled with just taking 2 AP classes in my junior year and I was not the best when it came to mathematics. 

So I decided to retake 1 year of math and went with a more realistic approach. I ended up taking 2 AP courses, but only the ones I knew I could handle – AP English Literature and AP Government/Economics. At the beginning, it was smooth sailing and there wasn’t a huge workload, so I was fine with the occasional procrastinating.

However, as the 1st month of school went on, that’s when things started moving rapidly. I noticed a lot more work was being given in my AP courses and even in my regular classes it was assignment after assignment; it almost made me burn out and it led to me not getting stuff done for some of my classes. So I realized that I desperately needed to find a routine that would work well enough to balance school and my personal life.

I created a routine where I would get as much work done as I possibly could at the beginning of the week and I would finish all my assignments on time. If I understood a concept, I would try to get a head start on the next assignment. 

This worked initially, but it would prove to be challenging, since I would often start putting some classes over others and this definitely became a problem when one of my teachers busted me for doing work from another class.

Although the routine I had created worked initially, it didn’t help that when I finished some work more would pile up and it felt like it was never ending. While balancing school, I also had to balance my personal life and during this time it was starting to get difficult to do both. I spent most of my time constantly worrying about assignments that were due for the week.

Even though I was struggling with my classes, school has always been one of my top priorities. That meant making sacrifices not just to my physical health but with my overall ability to manage time and because of this I ended up neglecting my health. 

I always struggled with my weight ever since middle school, so when I transitioned into high school the anxiety was at an all time high. I was usually made fun of for my weight and was given nicknames that were demeaning “Fat slob” or “Ball of grease” and it did impact me negatively. 

I used to weigh 279 pounds and when I saw that number during my physical I knew I needed to make a change. So I started working out. Initially I started with low impact exercises, but eventually I introduced weightlifting and even included cardio into my exercises. I dropped a total of 132 pounds from last year to the beginning of the year, which was shocking for me. 

I did so by taking advantage of the early mornings during the summer and would get used to following a daily routine. At the time I didn’t realize school was creeping around the corner so as I transitioned into my senior year it definitely became challenging since now the only time I had was after school. The problem was that after school I would feel drained of my energy when I got home and I wasn’t motivated to work out. 

But I was able to find balance. I would wake up in the morning to go for a run and then I would feel more energized throughout the day, and as soon as I got home I would transition into my weight training and whatever time I had left I would dedicate to get work done. Although it was a rocky start, I would feel better throughout the day especially at night since I would have been done with everything and I actually started going to bed much earlier despite having so much to do throughout the day.

 My health and school weren’t the only reasons for my struggles. I also had to worry about college applications, since I had to decide what I wanted to do after high school. Even though I knew what major I wanted to focus on, it was still hard for me to choose colleges to apply to.. 

I initially focused on UC’s despite having unrealistic expectations. I applied to Riverside, Santa Cruz, and Berkeley because they offered my major, which is Historical Sciences and I really like their campuses. 

At first, I didn’t even think of applying to CSU’s but as the deadline drew closer I eventually applied to 3 CSU’s – Fresno, San Francisco, and San Jose because of their proximity and their  higher acceptance rates. 

During the break I had heard from San Francisco letting me know that I was accepted. After I had received that email, I felt accomplished and after college applications were over I didn’t feel burned out or stressed out with constantly having to keep up with so many assignments overlapping left and right.

Although I was aware my senior year would not be smooth sailing, I was able to find a balance between school and my personal life.  Although it was a little rough getting back to the swing of things after winter break, I managed to adjust and get back into my school routine. 

Sometimes life can throw problems at you left and right, and it can even feel like it is never ending, but as long as you adapt and adjust, it will work out for you in the long run. I still have my community hours to get done, but besides that I am ready to enjoy the rest of my senior year and continue my journey that life has for me after high school.