Throughout life, there will be times when you are new at something.  Starting high school is one of those times.  Staring middle school or a new sports team are all new experiences, too.  However, high school is harder.  Yes, for middle school you have to face fitting in, deciding where you fit in, locker jams, and switching classes for the first time.  But, starting high school—in a building that is four times the size of your middle school and filled with three times the amount of kids—is the biggest challenge one has yet to face in his or her young life. 

When I started high school, I knew it would be challenging, but I didn’t know in what ways.  When I got here, the place was huge, the amount of homework was huge, the responsibility was huge  and the independence was huge. The biggest endeavor was time management.  For the first six weeks, it was a nightmare.  I would come home from soccer at about 5 p.m.  Then I would need to shower. After all, I didn’t want to be disgusting.  Playing soccer for two hours in the heat not only left me in need of a shower, but also left me famished.  So, I would need to eat dinner. 

By the time I finished eating, it was about 6:30.  I slowly made my way over to the couch, just to sit for a short time, but I would end up nearly asleep until 7 p.m.  My mom would say, “Kaylin, get off the couch.  You have to get your homework started.”  I would respond, “Just give me a little time to sleep.  Please… I’m so tired.”  There was no way I would start the evil task—homework—feeling exhausted and in a very cranky, tired mood.  Eventually, I had to get off the couch and get a move on. So I would start my homework, and since the load was 100 times more than that of middle school, it would take me until at least 10 p.m.  I was tired by then, but I still had more to do.  I remember one night falling asleep on the couch with a book in my lap. Homework was over for the night.  This pattern existed for weeks, leaving me exhausted in the morning and throughout the day. 

Thankfully, managing my time became easier as the school year went on.  I finally caught on after about six weeks. Since I wanted to take honors classes, play a sport and still have a sliver of down time— let me repeat, a sliver—I needed to work even more diligently than ever.  Now, I am able to get homework completed faster, budget my time better and prioritize.  Time management is one of those essential skills learned as a freshman.  I still have those nights when I am up late, but they are not as common.  If I continue to work hard, managing my high school schedule should get easier and easier.

Maybe the first six weeks made me stronger—I am more confident, independent and I have learned how to plan my time.  Also, I am making a surplus of new friends and acquaintances.  There will always be new experiences that arise.  They may be difficult to adjust to initially, but they get easier over time with hard work.  Do I think high school is the hardest adjustment to make?  I don’t know.  Right now, yes. However, I will have to see, as there always will be new experiences throughout my life that will take time to adjust to…