making the best of (maybe even enjoying) school

so... it happened.. the dreaded school started. #isurvived1stquarter

and we've officially survived. whew. i think most people have been in about a month but i just finished my first quarter since we started way back on august 10th. whaat? september's over? it's crazy how time flies when you're having fun (????)

I definitely don't hate or even totally dislike school but i'm not sure it's 100% possible to look forward to the start of school after so many months of late nights, late mornings, friends, adventuring, and doing what you want.

all that said, i definitely 100% beleive that it's possible to be happy at school & not die, maybe have a little fun, laugh, and not totally dread waking up in the morning (i know leaving your warm sheets is pretty much the worst thing ever but after that it's not so bad right? especially if you have some rad jams to listen to while you get ready. (i have a ton for you right here)

i'm definitely no expert but here's the best tips i've got. & i've officially survived a quarter of this school year without being overly stressed and being pretty happy with my life so i'm pretty sure they're legit:)

1. Don't stress
Stop it right now. School pretty much equals stress but please try not to fret the little stuff. Yes, you should probably start working on your 5 page paper that's due tomorrow but don't stress about that the whole day when you can't do anything about it because all that's going to do is ruin your whole day. After a big test try really hard not to worry about what you got on your test because it's done, as sad as it might be you can't change the score now so really try not to worry about the outcome. And then when you get the test back and maybe you didn't do as well as you would have liked try to set a goal for next time & move on with your life because why stress about what you can't change.

2. Don't stop adventuring
Let me clarify what i define as an adventure. To me an adventure is anything that is a little out of the ordinary and might be a little exciting. When I think of summer i think of lots of small adventures. Late night fires, playing basketball until late at night with my brother, watching the stars, daytime hikes, silly times with your friends, staying up late and watching movies, kayaking, swimming, trying something new, learning how to do something new. s'mores, jamming out, driving with all the windows down and feeling the wind in your hair, spontaneous outings. Obviously big adventures are tons and tons of fun, but i think that these little adventures are what makes life so worthwhile. So keep on adventuring. Make good choices but decide to stay outside and look at the stars, get ice cream spontaneously, watch a funny movie, take a random dance break in the middle of your homework, stay up late talking about something deep, keep laughing, and keep having (responsible) fun. I mean i stayed up until 10 last night watching Legally Blonde so i'm obviously living the party life...haha:) but really don't let all the summer magic wear off!

3. Grow your circles
I was horrible at this last year but try to find a small group of friends in each class. Someone to text if you need help with homework or to group up with if you have a project. i know it's so much easier to just keep to yourself and hide behind your phone, but once you get past that little bit of awkwardness school will be 10x as fun! they don't have to be your new besties or anything, just some fun people to joke around with ya know? people can totally surprise you. i've had classes in the past where i got sat by someone who i thought was "popular" or mean or something else but most of the time i'm totally surprised and we become great friends.

4. Try to keep up some good habits
I definitely wasn't ms. perfect this summer, but there were several good habits i finally sort of mastered. scripture study was one of them, i've always loved the scriptures but haven't been the most consistent. i was finally able to read daily for a few months and i don't want to lose that habit! Choose one or two good habits to keep going with & it will make the transition easier, plus you'll have a few new awesome good habits and who doesn't want that?

5. Seminary (!!!)
ah man i could write a book about how much i love seminary! (please consider that i leave my house at 5:30 am so i can get to seminary and then think about how awesome it must be) seriously, go. to. seminary. it is the best thing on the planet. it's such a huge spiritual boost for your day! i love getting to start my day with the scriptures, awesome people who help me become better, and then getting to school already awake and most of the time pretty happy cause of my awesome morning. it's the best!

6. Make memories
The homework can wait, sleep is overrated, and high school is short. you're only going to be young once so make good choices but live it up! Choose to hang out with your friends one night, don't skip mutual for homework because you'll definitely have more fun at mutual, don't skip family game night for more sleep cause sleep will always be there but before you know it you're going to be packing up and leaving your dear fam. I figure that everything will fall into place when you put what needs to go first first.


(i would add don't procrastinate to this list but i honestly haven't mastered this...like at all...so i can't write about it from experience.. but i've heard that actually starting assignments before the day before they are due or you know, the morning they are due works wonders though haha)

so i guess i'll just wrap this up with a huge good luck cause you're gonna rock this school year. high school isn't forever so live it up while you can, but also don't die when you do something embarassing okay?

best of luck!
-shelby