The Golden Trident

By Zach Smith

Everyone knows school can be daunting, stressful, and difficult, especially when it’s your first year at a new school. In this article I’m going to cover a few tips and tricks I have learned throughout my time at Golden High School that have helped me keep a healthy balance between school, friends, sports, family, and work. Granted,  this is my personal experience and everyone has different circumstances, however I will try my best to make all of my advice as broad as possible. 

Finally, tip one, pay attention. This sounds really stupid, I know, but it’s generally good advice. It is easy to get distracted; with the new phone policy it is less easy, proving its benefit despite its annoying nature, but still easy. You have a classroom full of other people your age and a teacher who has to get through a lesson one way or another. It’s easy to get caught up doing something stupidly and unproductive. However the teachers here at Golden are pretty good and if you just pay attention more often than not you will understand the material. 

Tip number two is going to be using school time for schoolwork. You have seven hours of your day that is already allocated to school, use that time to learn and do your work so that you can do the things you actually want to do with the other eight hours of your day that you’re awake. I was commonly able to have little to no take home homework freshman year when I utilized my Advisement Period or off block. 

My third piece of advice is going to be more social focused, but still in my opinion is equally as important: Be Yourself. Corny, I know, but it’s true. So many people are pretending to be someone else to fit an outside narrative. There are countless examples of this, all with the same ending: a shell of a person who doesn’t actually like their friends or life  too much at all. Be yourself, and befriend those who have similar aspirations as yourself, and you will see your life blossom and bloom into something more full and happy than you could have ever imagined. 

My fourth and final piece of advice is to try to learn something from every single person you meet. Whether this is a good thing, or a bad thing, or a mix of both, there is always something to be gained from respecting and observing another person. I think respecting and attempting to understand all people is one of the only guarantees to a happy and fulfilled life. The human species is so bursting full with wisdom and knowledge waiting to be passed down, use that to your greatest advantage. If you take this advice I doubt you will have much of a struggle at all this year or throughout your high school career as a whole. Of course there are going to be times where it is hard socially, mentally, and physically But if your goal going into that building every single day is to focus on yourself, pay attention, use your allocated time wisely, be yourself, and try to learn something from every person you meet, you will be achieve your goals. Good luck Demons!