All my life, I have loved the month of December. School in December always felt calm, and the holidays and break were always something to look forward to. This was my first December as a high school student, and after that experience, my perception of the month changed drastically. The school days were far from chill, as tests and assignments were crammed. My December was full of ups and downs, so I want to share my experience so that any future freshmen can learn what they are in for ahead of time. So without further ado, here is my month of December.
Chapter 1: Painful Waiting
Coming back after Thanksgiving break was a struggle. I absolutely obliterated my sleep schedule during the Thanksgiving weekend, so the return to school was not much appreciated. For the duration of the week, I was extremely tired and learning anything was an absolute nightmare; however, I was completely unprepared for what was actually to come. It seemed that every teacher was assigning tests and quizzes on the same day, all in the same week. Little did I know how much that would hurt me. As soon as December started, I was yearning for the holiday break.
Chapter 2: The Start of the Suffering and Anticipation
This week was the beginning of pure suffering. The end of the week was a dreadful experience, as I had two major quizzes that were equally difficult and required an EXTREME amount of studying. Adding to the suffering, I had multiple quizzes that lined up the next week, all of which required a lot of studying. This week, I buckled down and was pushing out four, five, and even six-hour study sessions, which was torture, but nothing I hadn’t experienced before. The only saving grace was that all my friends were in it together. We all had a shared struggle, and we even studied together. My big recommendation for any incoming freshman is to study with the RIGHT group of friends. What that means is to study with people who are as smart, if not smarter than you, who all want to achieve a similar goal/grade on the exam.
Chapter 3: The Final Boss
If you thought that last week was hard, you have not seen the week before holiday break. Most, if not all, teachers assign a test the week before. All the students are on edge, just trying to survive before the break. Everyone around me, including other students throughout all grades, was preparing for their respective exams. I myself, as mentioned before, had nine quizzes spread across the main subjects, and extracurricular activities to attend to. Every day I spent around seven hours just studying after school, with an additional hour of studying in the mornings. I was a man on a mission to do well on these tests and just get to the weekend, the break, the holidays, and the beautiful, beautiful time off. Though I was exhausted from the long school days, I had to push myself and keep studying. It may seem that I overworked myself, but it all worked out in the end. My advice is to not work as hard but just know that all the hard work WILL pay off. You will feel so proud of yourself from getting through this week and once it’s over you have two weeks to rest and to recuperate. I feel after much retrospection that this week is like (I think) finals or midterms. It’s difficult, it’s hard to go through, but once done you will be FREE!
Concluding Thoughts:
These weeks of December were hard and it fundamentally changed the way I saw the month. It went from pure bliss, to more like a roller coaster. There are high highs but there are also low lows. Though this month in school was difficult, I learned a great deal about myself as well as topics that I would have never even known existed. Thank you for reading this month of the Freshman Chronicles, and come back for the next!
