High School Life Hacks

As high school students, we sit in class all day long, working to keep our grades up, but the hard work doesn’t end when the bell rings. Some of us spend time in the auditorium after school for play practice or run around the track in preparation for spring meets. There are people that leave the school but immediately find themselves at a part-time job, working hard despite worrying about how they will get their homework done. Although these four years are full of pressure, there are things you can do to alleviate some of that stress.

1. Get Spotify Premium, Hulu, and Showtime for $5: If you are taking a college class, and you have an email through EICC, you qualify for this college student discount. You can get all three of these services for only $4.99 a month. Use this link to start saving! https://www.spotify.com/us/student/?_ga=2.212877972.1647941703.1551978930-362895703.153539265

2. Use Grammarly & Paper Rater before turning in an essay: These two websites are great to use if you feel that your editing skills are not the best. Enter your essay into each website and they will provide you with feedback that you can use to improve your writing.

Paper Rater: https://www.paperrater.com/

Grammarly: www.grammarly.com

3. Always keep a water bottle in your locker: Most people bring a water bottle to class because it is important to drink a lot of water throughout the day. That is why it is the worst feeling to know that you left yours at home. If you want to prevent the problem of not having a water bottle at school, just keep one in your locker and fill it up when you need to.

4.Use scholar.google.com when trying to find references: We all know the struggle of trying to write a paper but not being able to find good enough references. If you want to find scholarly references, use https://scholar.google.com/. They have articles and sites that you can use when you want trusted references.

5.Always have money with you: This one is pretty self-explanatory. You never know when there will be a bake sale happening at the end of the day, so you should always be prepared!

6.Take online classes: I cannot stress this enough. Taking online classes through EICC has multiple benefits. You can choose a class that will be beneficial to your future, earn college credits, and have an open block to complete all of your homework.

7.Use the Pomodoro technique: This is a time management method that can be used when studying. According to this technique, you should spend roughly 25 minutes studying, followed by a five-minute break. The brain isn’t as efficient when studying for a long amount of time, so it is important to allow your brain time to reset.

8.Utilize studying websites: If you are struggling in a certain area, find an online source that can help teach you further. A few websites that I would recommend are https://study.com/ and https://www.khanacademy.org/. These websites have lessons that you can follow to improve your learning.

9.Turn your phone onto airplane mode: This is a great tip for studying because you will not receive notifications when your phone is in airplane mode. You can study without getting distracted; PLUS your phone charges faster when it’s in airplane mode!

10.Create a morning playlist: In the morning, listen to a playlist that is the same length as the amount of time that you have to get ready. This way, you will know how much time you have to get ready, and it will prevent you from being late to school.

- Maddie Beuthien