How to Thrive

  Welcome to Zhaohan’s guide to not failing high school. Some would argue that I should be among the last people to be giving this specific advice, and I can see where they’re coming from. “Organized” is not a word that likely comes to the minds of most people when they see me for the first time. However, I would like to point out that my tips and tricks have kept the expulsion of someone like me a mere impending danger and not a reality, so maybe there’s some merit to what I have to say. 

I’ll start off with some lighter and easier to digest advice. Learn how to go down the stairs two stairs at a time. This sounds stupid and accident-prone, but I promise you I feel faster and have never hurt myself before. I’ve never conducted a study on whether this technique is truly faster, but none of my friends can go down the stairs as fast as I can. Given how many flights of stairs you’re going to be traversing during your Uni career, I’d suggest finding the nearest railing right now and getting started with this vital skill. However, I must warn you to be careful and I am not responsible for any injuries you may sustain. When you’re learning how to skip steps, do it on the first few steps of the first floor with a hand on the railing. 

The next piece of advice is to ask for extensions at least 2 days before the due date. I’d like to say the sweet spot is maybe 3 or 4 days before the due date because any longer would seem like you haven’t really tried yet, while cutting it closer seems a bit rushed and last-minute. However, asking for one 3 or 4 days before the deadline gives the air of an organized and calm student who recognizes their limits and knows how to manage their time. Uni teachers are very understanding and will almost always give you an extension. Just be sure not to abuse their kindness and to not have to ask for a second extension. I guess on a related note, make sure that you can complete good work in the amount of time you ask for. It’s a horrible feeling having to slink back to a teacher and sheepishly ask for even more time. 

My next piece of advice is to use Trello. What is Trello? An endangered tree native to the Amazon? No, that’s the Kapok tree. Trello is a web-based organization app. In it, you create “lists”, or general columns to organize tasks/information. In those lists, you can create cards, which you can think of as moveable bullet points. The current structure I use for Trello is having two boards (a board is a collection of lists), one being my schedule and one being my work. On my schedule board, I have a list for each day of the week. I put all the events/classes I have for that day and what time they occur, and I color code them by what category they fall under (red is for general tasks, pink is for Science Olympiad, etc.). My work board has a reminders list where I keep quick notes (don’t forget your scissors for art), a homework list (ex. Tuesday 10:00 Nonfic blog), a doing and a done list for tasks I’m currently working on, a condensed schedule list, a notes list, and a backburner list of things I will do at some point. 

However, my biggest piece of advice is to not anxiously seek out excitement or happiness from your high school years. Just value what you have, and make the most of your time. With that said, peace out.