The Student's Guide is a blog series designed to reflect a certain blogger's snark when confronting school while also imparting useful advice to fellow apocalypse survivors on how to become successful in school without becoming a robot of the education system.
Ask any high-schooler how much they sleep and they'll stare at you like you've gone crazy. SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK. Oh, and this post is Hunger Games-themed ... because the odds are never in our favour.
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1. Make a Cornucopia stock-up list.
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Find a post-it. Write down all the trivial things you can handle in a second. Email a project partner. Find that chemistry worksheet. Read the article your teacher thinks is inspirational. Trust me, you can handle most non-strictly-homework things in less than 5 minutes, and you can do it anytime: on the bus, between lessons, after lunch.
2. Form your alliances.
It's very difficult to survive without someone watching your back, unless you're a sneaky bastard who is never noticed. (That was a compliment.) But why bother, when more than one person can make it out of school? (Hint: the person rambling about differentiation isn't one of them.)
Find a group of friends of similar, or rather, more competency than you. Pool your test notes and discuss strategies (and, of course, convincing the teacher you're right.) Advise each other on homework, but I do not condone copying. I repeat: I do not condone copying. It is ridiculously easy to get caught. Note that this does not apply for maths, because there's only one right answer and everyone does maths wrong in the same ways.
3. Suck up to the sponsors.
Teachers aren't that hard to understand when you keep in mind one thing: they have all the power. Yes. It's that simple. Know this, understand this, accept this. So if they have all the power to, say, give you homework and detention, they also have all the power not to.
In the first month or so of school, out-perform yourself. Hand in homework early. Do the extra credit work. Ask for personalised feedback. Pretend to be a model student, in other words. Once you've built that good impression, you've opened the gates for the rest of the year. So if you need an extension or a better explanation than the incredibly vague question, the teacher will be more inclined to help you.
Case in point: I switched to a new school this year. Since I was super nervous, I actually behaved in class for once. Keep in mind no one knew me at this place. By the end of the first month, I was chosen to become a prefect trainee. And since you're reading my blog, you know no one in their right mind would pick me for a prefect. Point no. 1: Tumblr.
I'm not saying this is logical. I'm just saying, teachers have all the power.
4. Learn acting, berry-gathering, archery, and cooking.
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| It's like the law of demand, but cooler. |
This is called the law of multitasking, which states that the more things you do at a time, the less likely you are to procrastinate. I know, it sounds contradictory. But let's say you have your maths homework, your literature essay, and your presentation all on your desk. So when your attention span inevitably wanders from the maths, you can immediately start working on the essay instead of going on Tumblr.
The trick here is to carefully choose which things to multitask on. It's better if they're from the same subject or type of subject: for example, all the science subjects, or all the humanities subjects, or all the history homework your teacher saw fit to pile on you. But more importantly, it should be the same type of task: for example, it's all homework, or it's all revision. Otherwise, you'll find yourself gravitating towards the less work-oriented one. I mean, given the choice to sit in front of your notes or actually pound out an essay, what would happen?
Maybe these rules sound contrary to what school tells you. But to win the game, subvert the Gamemakers. Remember who the real enemy is.
How do you manage your time for studying and homework? What tips do you have for fellow students? Share in the comments!
Help other tributes—sorry, students— save time:
- Sleeping at 3AM? @AlyssaC_HK has 4 tips for students to save time with the Hunger Games. (Click to Tweet)