Students share keys to high school success

By Marcus Ismael

For most students college is still just a few years away, but for some, college is tantalizingly within reach. Students like seniors Emily Sison, Matthew Tan, Nathan Huey and Sammie Mui, have started early reaching for success. They have involved themselves in community and school programs as well as maintaining good grades and have been rewarded with early acceptances into the colleges they wanted.

 

Art Christen Alqueza

For Emily Sison, being a successful student is being a person who is, “willing to learn, retain the information and apply it to their life.” Sison has made it through four years of high school with excellent grades in all her classes. She has also taken the time to balance out her academic life with athletics because to her, extracurricular activities are just as important as school. “I recommend students to start extracurriculars early and stick with it for a long period of time,” Sison said. She also recommends that students have some sort of idea of what major they may want to take in college and then research the colleges that cater to their needs. Then students should maintain their grades as well as involve themselves in many of the community service opportunities offered at school. Sison has been accepted into UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, UC Merced, and UC Riverside. Her early acceptance is attributed to her ELC (Eligibility in the Local Context) which allows students in the top four percent or their class to be accepted early.

In Matthew Tan’s opinion, grades and extracurricular activities don’t mean anything if a student does not have the skills to back

Art Christen Alueza

those activities up. For him, being a member of ASB and Key Club, service is important, but it’s more of the traits of dedication and commitment that are more important. “You have to sacrifice your time outside of the classroom and commit yourself to extracurriculars and really make an impact,” Tan said. It’s true that colleges don’t just like to see that students are part of clubs and take an active part in their community, but also like to see long time commitment and dedication. Sticking to something over long periods doesn’t just make your applications and records look better, but also helps others.

Art Christen Alqueza

While maintaining grades is one thing Nathan Huey knows is important, he also agrees with Sison and stresses the significance of extracurricular activities. Huey has participated in many clubs at school such as Key Club and Interact Club where he volunteers for events like the Relay for Life fundraiser. “Service is important to me because it helps the part of the community that cannot help itself,” he said. Not only has Huey taken advantage of the many opportunities provided by clubs here at El Camino, he has also participated in sports like football, wrestling and track. For Huey, sports and volunteering are just as equal as grades. Admissions officers look to see that students are willing to reach out to their community.

One of the top students in her class, Sammie Mui has made her academic efforts stand out amongst her peers. She has been in yearbook since her sophomore year and is now the editor-in-chief. She is currently part of El Camino’s ASB, Key Club and Interact Club. While extracurricular activities are important to Mui, school takes center stage. This year alone, she is enrolled in three AP classes and is able to balance work in and out of school. For all students, doing the work is one thing, but when it comes to challlenges, students often struggle not in the homework itself, but rather asking for assistance. “If I’m confused with anything, I ask for help, whether it’s from friends or from the teacher,” Mui said. For Mui, success with homework, projects and extracurricular work is simple. “Every assignment counts, no matter how little points it’s worth,”Mui said.

Art Christen Alqueza

Successful students are successful for a reason. They put in the effort to make sure that they get and maintain good grades throughout high school. Successful students also utilize all volunteer and extracurricular activities whether it be through school clubs or sports and remain committed to these activities. Finally, the key to being successful isn’t just measured in grades and service but through commitment and dedication. Being a part of the school and community shows colleges and employers that one is prepared to do anything and everything.

Meh, maybe I’ll read this article later… On procrastination

By Marcus Ismael

Frequently teenagers put off work to pursue mindless tasks, leading to lower grades and possible failure in school. In short, teenagers fall victim to the worst problem: procrastination.

 

Man in the Mirror: Even good students can find themselves not at their best when procrastination rears its ugly head. (Photo Katrina Nolasco)

Parents and teachers cite laziness, but that simply isn’t the full case. Most teenagers are either overwhelmed by assignments and projects or are inconsistent about planning out how to accomplish their homework and balancing that with extracurricular activities. This leads to procrastination, or putting off work to the last minute because students simply give up when they run out of time. Laziness isn’t the only component of procrastination, but instead is one factor that leads to students pushing assignments off and taking a zero.

The truth is students do have time to do things that need to be done. Each day, the average student spends approximately six plus hours in class and athletes, leadership students and sometimes journalism and yearbook staff have and additional two or three. However, that still leaves four to seven hours after school to do homework or projects. It’s not that students don’t have the time, it’s that they don’t know how to use time wisely. Students can often be vague about time and will say “I’ll do it later” without actually knowing when “later” is. Some students with rigid predictable schedules are capable of planning around those activities, but for many students, time is subject to the usual teenage compulsiveness.

Students procrastinate because they get distracted easily. In order to complete homework on time, students should rid their surroundings of anything that rings, beeps or pressures them into going out. Students need to train themselves to focus on the task at hand and realize that the faster they finish their work, the more time they have for play. Shopping, video games and watching T.V. take up valuable time that students should use to finish assignments. Activities done after school can and should be structured to allow enough time for those activities to be done in reasonable time. After school, students can go home do their work or go to a friend’s house or library to complete a group project, go to the movies or mall and then come home for dinner then catch up on smaller assignments and still have enough time to sleep.

Procrastination isn’t caused purely by laziness, but instead normal teenage problems like a lack of organization, not utilizing time wisely and constant distractions. When students simply realize their own habits and overcome them, procrastination can end and grades can only improve.