The one sentence I’ve heard more than any other throughout middle and high school was, “You can’t do everything, Rochelle.” Okay, maybe that’s partially true, but regardless, I take pride in having proven them all wrong. 

There are two kinds of time management. There is the one that usually comes with a five-star rating by your guidance counselor, which includes allowing yourself enough time to rest, having enough time to calmly and thoughtfully complete your homework and time for exercise or fun. While this does work out for the majority of high school students, it did not work for me, so I’d like to suggest a different method.

As someone prone to procrastination, having enough time on my hands to do my homework without much pressure does not end well for me. Instead, I have learned to pack my schedule so tightly that I must complete my homework within a certain amount of time to succeed. I bribe myself with getting to dance class on time or getting to do my Hebrew homework (the work I always do last because it’s fun). 

A day in the life of Rochelle usually goes something like this: I try to get up early in order to program the music on my phone before I drive to school so that songs I need to memorize or practice play on the way to school. I squeeze out every second of the school day, and usually I’m either the last student to leave JDS or at dance until much later hours of the night than anyone should be. Eventually, I convince myself that I’ve finished enough to go to bed.

It would be dishonest to say that this schedule of insanity doesn’t result in some level of exhaustion and often comes with the feeling of having the weight of the world on my shoulders, but I’ve found that for me, it’s worth it. 

No matter how much or how little you take on throughout high school, it’s imperative that your happiness comes first. It’s not just about college—this is your life, so live it. For myself, it was my commitment to this insanity that truly made me happy, and honestly, I couldn’t have brought myself to do anything less.