Category Archives: Advice/How To

Advice/How To

Pros and cons of participating in extracurriculars

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By Fatima Mohamud and Sumaya Noor

What are extracurriculars?

Extracurriculars are activities outside of school that middle, high, and college students engage in for fun or academic reasons. There is a plentiful range of clubs and activities you can participate in such as: culture, music, math, science and robotics, sports, and media. These allow students to connect and entertain themselves while building new bonds, friendships, skills, and supporting the school community.

Why should you join an extracurricular?

Extracurricular activities and clubs are a great way to make new friends, explore your hobbies, and have new things to do. Many people have made lots of new relationships, acquaintances, and lifelong friends. Others learned new sports, favorite medias (books, TV, etc.), and new hobbies to share. It’s a great way to expand your social circle and begin a new chapter of your life.

How do extracurriculars benefit college and beyond?

When applying for college there’s a big list of what to go over and many things to include in order to look presentable. Certain extracurriculars can look nice on resumes and leave a good impression on employers. For other people it could be jobs or outside clubs. When writing your admission paper you’d want to include a sports team you might’ve been on, a photo of your club, or maybe even something you’ve made like a story. It’s important to indulge yourself in something you might want to spend time on and enjoy.

How can extracurriculars change your life?

After college, you’ve got to have some type of future, and many found theirs in school clubs. Activities like these may seem unimportant but these could give you the right ideas and the push you needed into getting a job and becoming your dream self. Clubs such as volunteering could make you seem dedicated, caring and reliable, others like art will have people view you as creative. It all matters on who you are and what you want to create or do with your life.

They’re also very significant to school life too, many people found skills, like finding motivation, they thought were not needed but found themselves reaching the spots that were missing.

Cons and disadvantages of extracurricular activities?

Though there are pros to extracurriculars, there are also cons. One of the disadvantages is that they may become stressful and add onto the current school workload. This can cause students to struggle balancing both their extracurriculars and regular classes.

Another disadvantage is that they can take away free or family time from students. Extracurriculars usually are an hour or two long, and adding that after school means students would only have so much time before having to go to bed.

Too many extracurriculars or physical activities can wear out students and cause them to be fatigued or lethargic during classes, meaning less focus and that could lead to worse performance

Another issue could be that students may feel unmotivated because they cannot perform well in their extracurriculars. The opposite could also become an issue to kids, where a student may stray away from their academics and focus too much on their extracurriculars. Either way is harmful to a student’s success and kids should always consider both the pros and cons of performing in after school activities.

How to decide if extracurriculars are for you?

Balancing the pros and cons of participating in extracurriculars is important. Students should always consider the effects of participation, both in the now and in the long term.

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Advice/How To, School Life

7 tips for staying on top of school work

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By: Mary Koch & Ella Sutherland

School can be stressful, and it’s even worse when you’re falling behind in your work.

Here are some tips to stay organized this year.

1. Get a planner:
A great way to stay organized is by getting a planner. You can write down your assignments, plan your day, and add notes.

They make your life so much calmer because you won’t forget to do things, and you can make sure you’ll have the time you need throughout the day.

2. Prioritize:
It’s important to have fun, but school’s important too. Try to plan your day so you have time to get your work done first before moving on to the things you want to do.

If you’re able to finish your work, or at least get a good start, you’ll be able to have fun and not worry about when you’ll get things done. Your day can be stress free if you can make the decision to do the boring parts first.

3. Plan Ahead:
Going along with prioritizing and getting a planner, you should always plan when you want to get things done. If you don’t wait until the last minute you won’t be rushed, so you can do your best work.

Instead of planning on finishing assignments right before the due date, you could make your own due date, so you can make sure everything is turned in on time.

Making sure to study for tests early is a good way to get better grades. Don’t try to learn everything the night before when all you’ll really do is stress yourself out. Instead you could find time to study days before, so you really understand the topic.

4. Stay Focused:
Not everybody can focus in the same environment. Some people need complete silence, and some people do best when they’re listening to music.

Find out what works best for you, and try to use those things to your advantage. If you know you can get a better grade on a test while you have music playing, you can ask a teacher, so you can do what’s best for you.

If you’re not able to focus when you have people talking around you, move somewhere you won’t be as easily distracted.

5. Make Your Work Fun:
Not all school work has to be boring. You can make it fun by doing things like doing homework or studying with your friends. You can talk and help each other while still doing your work.

Another way to make homework fun is by eating a piece of candy for every assignment you finish. You can also decorate your notes and use fun colors.

6. Ask Questions:
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. If you don’t understand something, your teacher will be happy to help out. You can ask in, before, or after class, or you could email your teacher privately and set up a time to meet.

Classes are so much easier when you actually understand the material, so speak up because teachers are there to help.

7. Organize:
If you’re able to keep your work and life organized, you’ll have a better chance of staying on top of your work. Whether you rely on a planner, or you just write things down anywhere, there are always ways to stay more organized.

Sticking to schedules or routines helps with knowing what you need to do and when. Having a designated spot to write down any homework or upcoming tests makes it easier to plan ahead and do things on time.

Those were just a few ways to keep your schoolwork stress free, and there are many other ways. Not everything works for everyone, but hopefully these will help keep this year organized.

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Advice/How To

Thinking about going green? Try a small business!

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By: Reagan Welch

Small businesses are becoming the next new big thing and here’s why: small business owners take time and energy on creating your products while reducing the carbon footprint of business. That means keeping the environment clean.

Small businesses are the key to saving the environment. Instead of mass producing each and every product, over charging for the amount spent to make that product, and making more than necessary, they are making them in smaller amounts and in cleaner and greener environments.

A many small businesses are alternative energy companies: green retail outlets, organic food growers, and locally sourced craft sellers. Many businesses that are green have fewer employees but have a low turnout. That is changing though, and you can help them grow too!

As people grow and understand more about the environment, and global warming, there is a higher demand for green products, and small businesses are stepping up, producing more and keeping clean. Sure, each product is much more expensive than anything you can get from a fast fashion store, but that’s the price you pay if you want to keep the environment healthier and the earth alive longer.

Supporting small businesses is not only beneficial for you and the environment, it is extremely beneficial to the owner or owners. Almost all owners are extremely grateful and excited that you decided to buy from them, and of your support of them and their business. Some even include extra little gifts and thank you notes as an extra thanks. You could make someone’s day or help someone pay their bills just by switching up where you buy your clothes or gifts or anything.

Swikirti Sheela Nath from Linkedin says going green is working towards decreasing environmental pollution, therefore, improving the soil, water, and air. This will help slow global warming (loss of biodiversity, deforestation desertification, resource depletion, etc) which will automatically help the earth and its animals from destruction for as long as possible. That is why instead of just thinking about going green you should go green.

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Advice/How To

Summer Jobs

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For high school students, like us, we are looking forward to having our summer vacation, a much-deserved break from your academic activities, and with great weather – sunshine. But, It also comes with summer jobs. Here are a few jobs you can apply to:

Advice/How To

Benefits of learning a new instrument

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By: Joxery Mezen Camacho

Reduces Stress 

Music itself is known to be a great stress reliever! And according to San Antonio Music Schools, music helps reduce our blood pressure and our heart rate; it also releases happy hormones which helps us feel more relaxed. 

Improves Memory 

When you learn all the different aspects that come with your specific instrument, you’re giving your brain a workout which helps improve your ability to remember things.  

Enhances Patience

Patience is a very important skill to have. It helps us stay relaxed and ultimately leads us to enjoy life a little more. While learning a new instrument, you must make use of that patience through continuous practice and pushing through despite making mistakes. When trying to play new pieces of music, you’ll be learning how to take things slow which you can then use in other areas of your life. 

Improves the Immune Response 

Making music strengthens the immune response, which allows us to fight diseases, as shown in a ‘Live Science/ article! 

Boosts Confidence 

Learning a new instrument shows you that you’re capable of learning new things. With practice, you’ll be able to see your improvement as a player which helps boost your confidence and that confidence boost can slip into other aspects of your life. You can also try to play in front of some friends/family or others in order to feel more confident speaking/performing in front of a group of people. 

Improves Coordination 

With any instrument you play, you will most likely use two or more parts of your body in order to be able to play it correctly. Your mind is also used as it tries to be aware of whether or not you’re playing the right notes. This all comes to play with coordination; practicing all the different movements with your instrument will improve your ability to coordinate. 

Enhances Focus 

In order to learn a new instrument, you must be able to focus. Concentrating on everything you need to work on and your practice sessions makes the brain work on its ability to concentrate which enhances your entire ability to focus. 

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Advice/How To, Tech/Games

“Tone Tags” and how to use them

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By: Caroline Crosby

I will preface by saying that this article may be a bit opinion-heavy in some places. The goal is to be as clear and concise as possible with this information, but personal bias can be hard to exclude regarding social accommodations such as tone indicators. 

But what exactly are tone indicators, and why are they used?

The short answer is as the name suggests. They are indications or “tags” that are used to convey tone. Specifically, they clarify the meaning of messages or written posts that could be interpreted in more ways than one. Tags are intended for casual interactions (social networks, SMS, emails, etc.) and were first made popular on text-dependent social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Tumblr, and Reddit.

Now that the “what” has been briefly established, we examine the “why” and the common application. 

Tone can drastically influence the meaning of a sentence. For example, let’s say that you and a friend were communicating via a standard messaging system. You send them an uproariously witty comment (in your own humble opinion), and they respond with “I hate you.” 

But what did your friend mean by that? Do they really hate you? Were they joking?

For those who struggle to perceive tone through text, these types of situations can be challenging to navigate. Many people (myself included) struggle to pick up on the intention of a message in written form. For neurodivergent individuals, the lack of indications outside of the words themselves (e.g., physical body language, voice inflection, facial expressions) can make it hard to decode the meaning of a text or post.

That’s where the tags come in!

For example, if your friend wanted to convey that their comment was a joke in response to your own, it would read as: “I hate you. /j”.

Alternatively, if your message made them seriously despise you, they would say, “I hate you. /srs”.

Indicators are easy to use and prevent distress from missed social cues. When applied correctly, miscommunication and misunderstandings caused by ambiguous tone in text can always be avoided.

In a day and age where this particular medium of conversation is commonplace, clarity is essential. As non-face-to-face communication, in general, has grown and changed, our syntax, grammar, and sentence structure has adapted as well. 

Likely, you’ve never heard of these fabled “tone tags” before, but they were conceptualized long, long ago. An informative carrd.co site explains:

“The tone indicator ‘/s’ has a well-precedented use, spanning years on Reddit. As early on as the 1580s, there have been tone indicators; Henry Dunham, an English printer, created a backwards question mark, ‘⸮’, which he dubbed the ‘percontation point*. It was meant to indicate rhetorical questions”.

In the modern context, they’ve evolved into a form of accommodation.

However, some believe that these devices are “stupid” and/or a form of “babying neurodivergent people”. Pushback also stems from those who think that the indicators are inconvenient or ruin punchlines. If I had a nickel for every time I heard the phrase “but /j ruins the joke”, I would be a formidable customer at the dollar store. But that’s neither here nor there.

Lastly, it’s essential to recognize that not all neurodivergent individuals need these accommodations. Cognitive disabilities come in all shapes and forms, and just because some struggle with identifying tone does not mean that all struggle with it. I’d advise not to push or assume that every neurodivergent person needs to use these. Ask!

As a disclaimer, choosing not to use them on social media or in other contexts does not make you a bad person. It’s up to you whether you want to employ tone indicators or not, but if someone asks you to clarify a message or use the tags when conversing with them, give it a try! 

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Advice/How To

Benefits of doing puzzles

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By: Joxery Mezen Camacho

These days, puzzles have become a nice way to pass the time for many people. And if you haven’t been doing puzzles then maybe it’s time to try a few because there are quite a few benefits to doing so – and they’re fun! 

Lower stress! 

While puzzles can sometimes be difficult, and maybe make you feel stressed, they actually help lower your overall stress! When we do puzzles, our brain gets into a similar state to that when we are dreaming – it’s called the Alpha State – that causes us to stay relaxed and feelings of peace. 

Improves memory! 

Doing puzzles gives your brain a mental workout. This works your neural connection which makes them stronger and creates new connections. The area in the brain that processes and stores information is made stronger which helps you improve your short term memory. 

Teamwork! 

According to some researchers at Yale University, when people work on a puzzle together their relationship improves. This also helps improve their collaboration skills and their ability to work as a team! 

Improve your mood! 

Whenever we do a puzzle, our brain begins to produce and release dopamine! Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that affects your mood, optimism, and motivation by sending feelings of pleasure and reward. This helps encourage us to continue to challenge ourselves! 

Get better at problem solving! 

Puzzles help you become better at critical thinking! When you’re looking for the next piece to place down, your mind pictures a basic idea of what you’re looking for which strengthens your ability to create theories and hypothesize. And when you pick the wrong piece, you immediately begin to formulate a new idea and look for something different. This helps you improve your adaptability and innovation! 

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Advice/How To, Travel/Food

Snacks that help give you energy

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By: Joxery Mezen Camacho

Do you ever feel like you need a bit more energy to get through the day? Maybe you didn’t get a good night’s sleep the night before, or your classes left you exhausted. Well, here are some healthy snacks to give you a bit more energy to get you through the day: 

Nuts! 

Nuts are a great snack to have after something draining like a workout! They have good fats and are high in protein which helps your body recover and helps you regain some energy. 

Fruit! 

Apples, bananas, and watermelon are some of the best fruits to get an energy boost! Dried fruit is also good and easier to take around! It contains natural sugar and is high in fiber which is a good energy booster! 

Seeds! 

All seeds contain a bunch of protein! They also have good fats and many have different types of vitamins and minerals which are good for your body and can give you a good wake up call! 

Peanut butter! 

Peanut butter is greatly known for being a good source of protein! It also contains sugar and salt, and it’s quick and easy to eat for when you need a quick energy boost! 

Turkey sticks and some fruit! 

A mix of a turkey stick and an apple could give you a great energy boost! The mix of protein, fiber, and sugar really help your body out! 

Chocolate! 

Specifically, dark chocolate — it contains sugar and fats which really help give you some energy! Eating nuts or fruit covered in chocolate are also great choices, and are even better because they’re better for your health! 

Cottage cheese! 

Whether you have it by itself or with seeds, berries, or even chocolate, it’s good on protein and fat which are good energy boosters! However, you should eat it in moderation, since it can contain high amounts of sodium. 

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Advice/How To

How to motivate yourself and stop procrastinating!

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By: Reagan Welch

Getting motivated right now is hard. Whether it’s because of COVID-19, or something completely different, or just because, it’s hard.

Sometimes, people rely on others to motivate them, and not themselves, and that’s what distinguishes high achieving professionals from them. Of course, to a certain extent, people need others to help motivate them, and that’s okay, but if you’re struggling on doing simple day to day things it will help to do self motivating activities.

Here are some simple strategies to get back in the game:

  • When you wake up in the morning get up and out of bed right away; get your feet on the ground. This will help you wake up faster and better.
  • Start small; don’t go too big. There’s no shame in starting where you need too.
  • Set goals, small or big, depending on you. Ask your friends to check in on you and your progress.
  • Play music, take a break, get up and have a dance party with yourself.
  • Be kind to yourself. If a friend of yours was struggling, you would do everything you could to help them, so why can’t you do that for yourself.
  • Take your bad days, your setbacks, and use them to grow and improve.

Procrastination is a part of life and your motivation. Every day you don’t do that one thing you’ll lose more and more motivation and eventually you might just not do it. We don’t want that.

You might be asking how do you overcome procrastination? Well here’s some simple steps:

  • Step one: identify that you are procrastinating
  • Step two: figure out why you are procrastinating
  • Step three: find some anti-procrastination strategies

Procrastination is a habit so it might take a while to break and it will be hard to break, but you can do it. You might stay on track, you might not, you might get set back, and that’s okay. Take in the whole experience and use it all as a learning experience.

For a more in-depth idea on how to start overcoming procrastination, where they have a lot more information and tips, please go to:

Advice/How To, School Life

Homework stress and tips to help

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By: McKenna Nutter

Research that was conducted at Stanford University, in 2013, found that high school students, who may be considered a part of ‘high achieving communities’, who spend more time on their homework, struggle with balancing their education with their social life and physical health. This lack of balance has caused many of these students stress. 

This study came to find that more than two hours of homework per night is not only overbearing, but it also is counterproductive. The students who participated in this study reported to be spending over three hours on homework, on average. 

When it came to stress, over 70% of the studied students reported they were often, or even always, stressed over schoolwork, and more than 99% claimed that homework was a stressor. More than 40% of students claimed they experienced three or more physical symptoms when asked if they ever experienced any headaches, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, weight loss, and stomach problems, and 80% said they experienced at least one. 

Many students in this study, and even personally, felt forced and/or obligated, to choose homework and grades over the rest of their life. This could mean that any free time at home, time with my family, any social outings, and extracurricular activities were neglected because of homework. 

Some tips that can help with the stress of too much homework are:

  • Stick to a schedule: As a student, this has helped me a lot, with more than my homework. Just forcing myself to wake up at the same time everyday, get dress and do something like make my bed or pick up my room before school has helped me create good habits that I wouldn’t otherwise have.
  • Stay organized and check your agenda constantly: This is another important aspect to keeping stress down. A tool I use personally is a homework app. I enter my homework and the due dates into an app and check it off as complete when it is submitted. It also helps me when an adult also has access to my homework tracker to help me stay on task.
  • Communication: Communication with your teacher is ideal, it helps your teacher get to know you and it makes it easy to talk to them when you have questions. And as mentioned before, talking with an adult in your house is very helpful. Sit down for five minutes every night, or every couple nights, and discuss how homework is progressing and your upcoming assignments. I was very hesitant when I first started doing this, but it has given me a lot of motivation to get things done. 
  • Get a good night’s sleep. This one seems very obvious but it’s true. I’m sure everyone knows the importance of sleep, but as a high schooler myself, I cannot tell anyone how much easier school got when I started going to sleep at a decent time. If you were to do this, even on most nights, the difference is noticeable. 

There are many resources students can use to keep in contact with their teachers and many apps and websites to keep track of your schoolwork. The app I use personally is called ‘My Homework Student Planner’, and paper planners are another amazing way to stay up to date. I spend, at most, five minutes at the start of each day looking through Schoology for new assignments.