Finding My Flock

Dear Little Pink Panthers :]

        When I arrived at the school a few things surprised me. One thing was how "outside" the school was compared to all the other schools I have been to. I like being able to walk across the quad right before class instead of waiting in a smelly gym. I was also surprised at the amount of freedom we received. At first I didn't know what to do with the time I had until I made a schedule. The school day also seemed much shorter and time also seemed to go by much faster.

        The biggest challenges I faced were time management and people skills. I created a skeleton plan for each week and finalized the details each day. I would weed out the unimportant things and doing that made more time for school work and practice. I also was a shy person and I had trouble meeting new people. I would strongly encourage you to try to meet as many new people as you can. And make as many friends as you can. Maybe sit with someone new at lunch or walk to class with someone you haven't talked to yet but you kind of know who they are.

        I have learned that it is better to sometimes be selfish and just do something for you. If you can't find a working printer on a Sunday for a friend who forgot to print out their paper that was due later that day you should not stress yourself out. You need to calmly tell your friend that you could not find a printer and that she needs to find a printer. And telling her this does not mean you do not love your friend or that you don’t want to be friends anymore. You are letting yourself know that you are not going to take her problems on as your own. Helping is not a bad thing, but when it gets in the way of your well being you can’t really help anyone.

Lots of Love

~Elsie :]

Time Management...

The biggest time management challenge I have happens when I decide to put too many things on my plate. I become overwhelmed, stressed, and tired. When I went to middle school I realized that I was a very slow worker. A thirty minute assignment would normally take me an hour to complete. My speed became an issue for me to add new projects to my list. I had trouble trying to juggle school, sports, and work. I had to drop the sport even though I enjoyed playing.

          A time management tool that works for me is writing out a schedule for the week. Then in the mornings I usually decide the specifics for a particular day. If I know what I will be doing ahead of time I will be less likely to overbook. Also, I like to write out what the activities are that I would like to be a part of. Then I will cross out the ones that are less appealing to me, during class time, or when I normally do work study. Finally if two events are at the same time I will cross out the one that has fewer benefits for me. Benefits meaning convocation credit, recital credit, SSS credit, informational orientations, and clubs or organizations. Detriments would be parties, movie nights, going out late to eat on a school night, and activities that do not hold my interest.

            The advice I would give to others is to make a basic skeleton schedule. After the important and priority items are planned, start to put down the interesting and fun activities. Lastly I would advise not to overbook a schedule. If the schedule becomes overbooked because of commitment to many activities, or an activity becomes very active, I would advise to drop a commitment. Also a person could simply explain that it is not possible to complete this particular event at this time. I recommend for this reason to leave some space between activities for lateness, random weather changes, unknown emergencies, and even alien invasions.