Iam asophomore in high school . Although Istill have more than half of high school left , Iknow that Ihave made some life-changing decisions in the past two years . The best decision was to run cross country in the fall . Iam by no means agood runner , but in 8th grade I decided to give cross country achance and signed up along with afew of my friends . As Iwas giving up my time to play a sport , Iwas incredibly worried about the upcomingworkload . As the oldest child , I ’ ve always gotten information about upper grades through my friends ’ siblings , and one of the most prevalent facts about Ridgewood High School was that the amount of homeworkyou received would be nothing like before . If you went to bed before midnight , even as afreshman , you were lucky . This terrified me . As someone who struggled to stay up past 10 p . m ., Ifigured that 9th grade wasn ’ t going to be fun .
Summer ended quickly and soon enough , Iwas at anew school with a ton of work . Still , Ifoundmyself going to practice every day even whenIhad aseemingly massive amount of homework . As one week turned into two , andthen into amonth , and then two months , Irealized that what Ihad heard wasn ’ t entirely true . Sure , Ihad more work than previous years , but there was neveranight where Ihad to stay up until 3a . m . just to finish homework .
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Iwon ’ t lie , there were definitelydays where Itold myself that Ihad to quit cross country and there was no way Iwould put myself throughthis ever again . When the season endedthough , Ifound myself thinkingthe exact opposite . Ihad learnedsomany valuable lessons .
The first was how to manage my time and perfect my study techniques . Some days Iwould come right home from practice , showerquickly , startmy homework , eat dinner , finish my homework and then studyfor any upcoming quizzes or tests . In the beginning of the year , this pattern would be full of 30-minute long breakswhere Iwould sit on my phone and do anything to avoid working . As time went on and the workload increased , Istarted to check my phone less and less .
One of the best strategies Iformulated was to put my phone in adifferentroom beforestarting my work . Although my phone was nearby , Ididn ’ t hear it buzz every time Igot anotification and was much less tempted to checkit . This greatly helped me improve my study habits .
The most ironic thing that happened was that afterthe season ended , my grades started to drop when Ihad expected the exact opposite . Ithink it was because of all the free time Inow had and Istarted to go backtomyold habitsofcheckingmyphone too often , and being less productive . Ifound it
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interesting that when I had less time available Iactually accomplished more .
Iknowcross country isn ’ t for everyone , but Ithink everyone should consider trying something new , especially in the fall . Trust me , Iwould have never thoughtIwouldsay that , but now Ican ’ t imaginethe fall without cross country .
If you find asport , club , instrument , or any other activity that you have the slightest interest in , go for it . Sure , there may be days where you want to drop everything and break down . But once you finish , you will be stronger . Along with that , you will meet great people who share acommon interest . There have been multiple occasions where I ’ ve found myself running alongside people who Iwould have never known otherwise . At the end of the season , we are sad that we won ’ t be spending every afternoon together , running rain or shine .
You don ’ t have to be the besttohave agood time , but in ways you don ’ t even realize , every activity will help you . ●
– JACOB ALVARADO RIDGEWOOD
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COURTESY OF THE ALVARADO FAMILY |
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8 FEBRUARY / MARCH 2017 | ( 201 ) FAMILY |
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