The Back-to-School Blues
by Frank Yang
As my senior year is coming around the bend, it’s about time that I share some of my profound experience. Without further ado, let’s move on with the proceedings...
For Freshmen: Connections!
Make more friends! Don’t be afraid to join new groups and meet new people! It’s important to step out of your comfort zone. One pro tip for this challenging obstacle is to spread your love and kindness around the community. Say hi to new people every day and always remember to smile! Smiling is one of the most contagious assets that we have, and it’s up to us to utilize this potential to make the CCA community a more welcoming and accepting group of diversified individuals.
It’s important to take advantage of your opportunities. Use social media to stay caught up with school activities! Make connections in class: gather contact information from a couple of study buddies from each class to allow yourself to get caught up with classes or get engaged with social media to create class group chats or Facebook groups to collaborate on your studies. And finally, joining school activities such as clubs, sports, and school dances will allow you to bond with people faster and truly experience CCA’s lively, multifaceted culture.
For Sophomores and Juniors: Protect your sanity!
Manage your classes to have some free time for your extracurricular activities and hobbies. Remember, it’s important to keep balance in your schedule and to protect your health. Contrary to CCA belief, sleep is not for the weak. It’s better to wake up a little earlier than to stay up later at night to finish your homework. Similarly, it’s not healthy to wake up in the middle of the night just to do homework. Take care of your circadian rhythms!
It’s key to show rigor in your schedule, but from another viewpoint, it’s unlikely that someone could be interested in every single one of the AP classes offered at CCA, so be more inclined to take the classes that display your interests or are aligned with the curriculum you plan to study in college and beyond.
For Seniors: Don’t give up on your classes!!
It’s pertinent to finish strong in the home stretch and It’s not too late to get started on college apps, as it is always best to look at certain college essays and questions in advance to see what colleges look for or like to see in students. Start with a college list and plan your schedule accordingly to meet the deadlines of certain applications! Ask your teachers early for a letter of recommendation if necessary, and don’t be afraid to ask your counselors for help or clarification.
On a lighter note, take advantage of the senior events that ASB offers. Become a role model for the underclassmen and employ CCA’s accepting and creative ideals into your day. And most importantly, enjoy your time at CCA while it lasts!
For All CCA Students: Don’t forget to take a variety of classes that you might not normally choose; experiment with your schedule in your freshman year, but make sure that it’s balanced. Take classes that are more specialized (e.g. video film, drawing and design, principles of engineering) to expand your repertoire of skills. Don’t let competition and peer pressure put you down. It’s the acceptance and creativity, the interaction of different personalities and characters that make CCA unique. Let’s make it stay that way.