The date is set for me. I will be taking the ACT on March 6, 2012. My school has decided for all its juniors to take the ACT on this date. If you are also taking the ACT sometime soon, now is the time to prepare. Open those ACT books and start preparing!
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Happy February, readers! Can you believe we are already in the month of February? Time goes by fast, and that is one reason to begin working on preparing for your senior year and for college. You don’t want to be that student, the one running behind on college applications. It is never too early to prepare yourself.

Don’t know where to start? That’s why I’m here! Preparation for college readiness testing is crucial. There are several websites and bookstores that offer ACT prep books. These books come complete with self-quizzes and information to help familiarize you with the ACT.

A good idea is to start looking at colleges and universities in which you’re interested. The internet is a great tool for this. You can visit the school’s website and see information on what student life is like, what classes you need to take to get admitted, and even learn about financial aid. Websites I use that offer even more information to me are Zinch.com and CareersandColleges.com—both are incredibly useful. This has allowed me to narrow down my choices for the universities where I would like to attend; now it’s your turn!

That time of the year is here again … registration! Everyone knows that choosing classes for your senior year of high school is of utmost importance. Let me tell you—senior year is not the time to slack off. Many students believe that senior year is the time to take it easy. Some students lose sight of their studies and it shows in their grades. You want to step up your game and take the classes that will make you stand out from the rest of your peers and work hard. Admissions offices will look at your grades during your senior year—first and second semester.
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Time management is one of the most necessary skills in school and even life in general. There are 86,440 seconds, 1,440 minutes or just 24 hours in a day. While we all wish for more time in a day, we must learn to manage those hours efficiently in order to stay on top of things and to avoid that feeling of being overwhelmed. Dealing with 3 AP classes and one relatively difficult class this semester (since my school operates on a block schedule) and having to attend swimming practices at 4:00 am, has certainly forced me to take control of my time. Throughout my school career, I have found several ways to manage my time wisely.
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Welcome readers! My name is Isabella and I will be sharing my journey through high school and the transition into college with all you lovely people. I am here to help you make the most out of your high school experience, and to help make applying to universities and studying for the ACT less stressful. I go to a public high school in Arizona and I am a free-spirited seventeen-year-old. I just began the second semester of my junior year and—now more than ever—I need to focus and prepare for what comes next. Now is the time to work extra hard, study for the ACT, do volunteer work, and look into preferred colleges and universities, of course!
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Hello there students; my name is Frank, and throughout this year I will attempt to share my experience about high school, college and the ACT. First, here’s a little something about me: I am currently a junior at Jack Britt High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina, but I am not originally from North Carolina, much less America. I was born in the Philippines, a small nation in Southeast Asia. At the age of ten, my family and I moved halfway across the world to New Jersey. Three years later, we moved again to North Carolina. Considering the changes I’ve experienced, I’m proud to say I’ve always maintained my focus on my academics. Read the rest of this entry »

I have grown so much since my very first post. It’s honestly hard to believe that I started this blog a year ago; it doesn’t feel that long at all. This blog opened my eyes to the fact that people do actually care about what I have to say, and that’s the best feeling! With that being said, I have gotten so accustomed to writing this blog and it feels weird knowing that this is my last one.

When I started working on this blog last year, things were real hectic as far as schoolwork. For me, it seemed like junior year had the heaviest workload. It probably seems like that for most high school students. Junior year was the time when I really had to focus—not that I didn’t before then, but it was really the last chance I had to work for the grades I wanted. And with all of that going on, I also had track practices every day!

At the same time, I added this blog to my workload. Not a huge commitment, but it was still more added work. Juggling all of these things helped me tremendously with time management. I needed to keep a strict schedule. If I hadn’t, I would’ve been way behind in school, as well as with other commitments.

As far as schools go, I still haven’t made up my mind completely where I want to go. Making decisions that can change your life forever are hard, so I am taking time to think. It might even take me until track season to make my decision. Some schools wait until crunch time to make big offers. My plan is not to wait until crunch time, but you never know.

Finals are just around the corner and it’s time for me to begin a strict studying schedule. It’s my last “first” semester in my high school career, so I want to finish off strong. I usually stay up pretty late doing work, but now I have to make sure that I go to bed at a reasonable time so my brain and body will both be fresh. I’m feeling really good about how I’ll do, so hopefully my feeling will turn into reality! Well, I have to go study now, so I wish the best to all for a happy new year.

These past two years have been very eventful and stressful. It has been hard juggling my schoolwork, advanced classes, ACT prep and testing, track, after school activities, college visits, and college applications. I feel like I have not had a moment to relax. I look back and remember how hard I worked to be sitting where I am right now. I am a senior with her college applications sent out. I am happy that all of the hard work I put into my schoolwork has paid off. But I am sad that my four-year journey through high school will be ending so soon. These four years have flown by. I remember being a freshman like it was yesterday. I am happy though that I will be heading off to college to start a new chapter in my life.

Next year I will be attending the University of Notre Dame in Indiana where I will pole vault on the track and field team. I am so excited to go off to college. I must admit, though, I am also very nervous. I know that my workload will be challenging and I will have a very busy schedule with track, but I look forward to meeting new people and making new friends. Plus, I cannot wait to go dorm- room shopping. Also, it will take some time adjusting to being 13 hours from home. For starters, I need to learn how to do my own laundry before I leave!

I know that early decision and early action acceptance letters have been sent out or are being sent out soon, and I wish everyone who applied early and regular decision the best of luck! A lot of my friends are receiving college letters right now. Getting accepted into college is the perfect holiday present! I feel like such a weight has been lifted off my shoulders now that I know for sure I am going to the college of my dreams next year.

At this point I look forward to finishing my senior year. I think that my stress level will be a lot lower now that I do not have to worry about college applications on top of all of my schoolwork. I plan to keep working hard at school and track; but I also know that now I have more time to relax and hang out with my friends.

I am looking forward to winter break and spending time with my family. I cannot wait to have a week off from school, and hopefully my teachers will not give me a lot of homework over vacation. I wish everyone the best of luck with college and hope that everyone has a happy holiday.

My life has been normal and uneventful; not much is going on. I just have my schoolwork and track to focus on. I am looking forward to Christmas break because school has been really challenging and I need a break from it. Many people who applied to college early action will be finding out if they were accepted. I wish all of you who applied early action good luck. Being accepted would be the ultimate holiday present.

I know it’s senior year and we’re all ready to move on and start new things, but we have to keep pushing and finish off the year strong. My mom always tells me it makes no sense for me to suddenly let up academically just because the year is almost over. So, I am going to continue to keep pushing myself until that final bell. Then I’ll take a break and start again in college.