Mrs. McGlinchy’s English 4 class is a British Literature course, and like most teachers, she began the school year with an icebreaker. However, instead of asking for our favorite songs, our hobbies, or something else of the getting to know you variety, she had her classes watch this video. The assignment that followed the video sounded simple enough- two paragraphs of a written response, a short video, or a collage answering the prompt “How can you use your time more effectively this school year?”
The responses to this video varied. Some students described their plans for the school year, some set time-sensitive goals, and some had existential crises. It’s difficult to look at one’s time and realize it’s fleeting. (Especially for teenagers.) Oftentimes, they struggle to find balance, either spending too much time planning for the future or too much time living in the moment.
Below is three examples of real student papers and their plans.
In the video “the time you have” shows us how many days a typical human has to live (which is 28,835 or 70 years) when you see all those days you think that there’s so much time left but once you think about it your life goes so fast by the time your 18 6570 days have passed and what can you show for that for most of us nothing maybe a car or a dream but nothing that will really leave an impact. For me to live the rest of my life fulfilled it makes sense to set goals that seem challenging. For instance, I plan to have a half decent car and a motorcycle by the time I graduate. I remember back in freshman year during one of the study halls I had with Mr. Brady we set academic goals for ourselves and we used a process to give goals that were attainable.
This year I will make an effort to go to bed happy with what I did in a day’s work whether I made a new friend or tried something new. I’m sure a lot of people will just try something new but if I try something new I want it to be something that I’m happy with for instance I could do a hot coal walk but if I didn’t learn anything then I would feel like I wasted that day now obviously not everything I do will make me happy like I don’t necessarily like working nobody does but I know that I make money so I feel fulfilled by working because I know that doing work will result in me getting money which does make me happy. There are days where I just sit at home and don’t do anything that I feel happy with, those days I don’t feel happy. The end result isn’t to challenge myself everyday because that would lead to stress and would ultimately cancel the effects of spending your time effectively but to be happy with what I do everyday.
JOSEPH ZACHER
Time and I have a difficult relationship. I pretend that I haven’t been using it, and assume I’ll always have more. If I admit time is flying by… then I’m admitting I’ve been wasting it. That’s embarrassing- to say that I’m seventeen years old, and I haven’t accomplished anything with all that time. It’s not my fault that I’ve spent so much of my life focusing on staying alive, and trying to keep up with my peers. I wasn’t equipped with the help or diagnoses I needed. This past year, I’ve been fortunate enough to finally, finally attain those needed resources.
So this upcoming year, I want to use my time more efficiently by just…trying. I’ll try to be mindful of my procrastination, and I’ll try to be successful in school. I’ll try to spend less time doing nothing, because that used to be all I had the energy for. I want to be able to look back on my senior year and be proud of myself. I want to be able to say “I really did try my best.” I really do feel this goal is attainable, and I’m looking forward to seeing what I can accomplish now that I’m able. My time will be spent trying- it won’t be wasted this time around.
JAYNA PATRICK
After watching the jelly bean video in class, I figured that the best way to spend my time most effectively this year would be to stay organized. The past 2 school years I’ve kinda always just thrown homework in my bag and just got it done eventually. This year though I wanna focus on planning out when I’m gonna do homework and plan breaks too. I’ve already started by setting reminders in my phone to help remind me to get up and finish assignments and homework. I’ve also sorted my bag out into sections for different things like pencils, binders and that kind of stuff I use in school.
I hope to become more efficient in doing my homework this way. I also hope to get good study habits and motivation from staying organized. This can help me outside of school after I graduate by knowing where everything is and getting work done when it needs to be done. Instead of just putting work to the side and not making it more of a priority. In the end I really just wanna be more organized.
CADEN MEHSLING
