High School
This is where it all begins. Choices start to seem dire.
Are you going to college? What classes are you going to take? Are you an A student? What does this even mean? Are you exhausted from sports, volunteering, social clubs, and trying to stand out?
High School has become a very stressful place, with every possible choice seeming to carry your entire future.
Organizing
At this point in your life you are asked to organize more areas of your life. Academics, your room, a job, volunteer work, clubs, friends, instruments, languages, theatre, and sports. How do you keep up with it all? It is a lot for anyone, and hiding under the covers or giving up can seem like a good short term plan.
This isn’t the first time you have been asked to be organized, and you may have had some moments where you were organized. Let’s find those wins. You could modify them, mix and match them. Look at them again and see how to take control.
It's okay to feel like it’s too much. Sometimes it is!
Planning
While you are struggling to get your day-to-day and week-to-week tasks organized, you are also expected to be planning for your future: longer term papers, projects, next sports season, play,s and concerts, summer jobs, next semester. All the while, parents and teachers are telling you that these stressors will only multiply as you progress through school.
What is hard to keep in mind for all of us is that while we are facing these stressors, we are becoming increasingly capable. You couldn’t do what you are doing now five years ago, and you will accomplish much more five years from now.
Could you remind yourself that you are making progress? Seeing your micro growth when attempting to do so much is essential to continued motivation.
Applying to College
Do you want to go to college? Where do you want to be: urban, suburban, rural, big, small, close to home, far away? Do you know what you would like to study? Perhaps you are not ready for college or don’t need it for your career goals.
It all seems like you need to have the answers, and you need to have them now. The reality is that the answers to these questions are constantly moving depending on many factors. There is no correct answer, and it’s okay to change your mind. This involves long-term planning and requires slow, steady work.
I can help you slow down and see the immediate questions and decisions. You can adjust your expectations as your target moves; these adjustments can feel like failure, so let’s keep your eye on the ultimate goal.
