Disclaimer: These strategies may not work for everyone and may have more of an effect on some people than others.
Shows and movies like Gilmore Girls and Dead Poets Society resurface on social media every fall, highlighting the beginning of the academic year. This inspires thousands on the internet to romanticize their time in high school and college relating to academics.
Yet when it comes to the student body of West Boca, many say they find school “boring” causing them to slack off and not do as well as they could have in classes. In reaction to these comments, I decided to do a little experiment. This experiment entails romanticizing my high school experience by using tips and tricks that I have seen on the internet for a week (From September 16th-September 23rd). The idea of romanticizing something is to idealize it and make it seem more appealing than it is. By creating this facade for oneself, many can do better to enjoy school as an experience rather than a chore.
Tips and tricks I used to romanticize school throughout the week
- I made sure to wake up every morning at 4:00 am-5:00 am and tried staying off my phone for 30 minutes after I woke up.
- I watched “get ready with me” and “college life” videos on youtube as I was getting ready for the school day to get inspired by the high levels of productivity within the video.
- As silly as this sounds, I imagined myself as my favorite smart character in TV shows and movies about school that I’ve seen before, making sure I spent my class periods paying extra attention to lectures.
- Any time it was a break period during class, I made sure to look over notes from the class period to make sure that I really understood what the teacher was talking about.
- If I did not fully understand the material, then I would ask the teacher for help. (Do not be afraid to ask for help whether it is in class or after class).
- I traded my scrolling on Tik Tok for reading as a means of taking a mental break.
- I make sure to stay off my phone for at least 30 minutes before I go to sleep.
Thoughts and Opinions:
Besides studying techniques, romanticizing school can be a great way to improve your performance in school. I found that it was pretty helpful considering that I only did these strategies for a week. I found that my addiction to my phone was much stronger than I thought; which made it more difficult to focus on school for the first half of the week. Still, focusing on school and trying to make it fun has greatly improved my focus as I continued to use these strategies. I noticed that there was only a slight increase in my grades and test scores from this week but with more time, these strategies will become a habit which could only improve my success in school. Overall I found that these tips helped improve my focus and my performance while making the process fun. I hope that these tips will help others improve their performance in school as well.
