By Jocelyn Tolpin’16

Two weeks. That’s all that’s left. Two weeks is nothing right? No sweat? Wrong. Incredibly wrong.

For a student, especially a Newark Academy student, these last two weeks are awful. Every day, at least one big assessment takes place. For me, today I had a test and a lab due. Tomorrow I have a project and another test. Wednesday I have an essay, a quiz, and a seminar. And Friday I have a project, two essays, and an oral. (Thursday I have nothing. Boo-yah!)

These last two weeks for any Newark Academy student are a nightmare. Every night students stay up late to study for all of their major assessments, and then when it’s all over, it’s not, because the teachers give us the dreaded exams. They can either raise your grade a ton, or pull it down to the depths. I personally am hoping that they get abolished completely. All they do is make our foreheads crinkle and our hands shake.

These last two weeks are filled to the brim with stress and bags under our eyes. Why can’t the teachers spread out the assessments instead of overwhelming us with so much work? I am counting down the days, ticking them off one by one until all this stress is over.

We’re in Middle School now. In high school, things will be so much worse. Our workload will be doubled, and if you take an AP course, tripled. There will be so much more pressure then, so we need to learn to manage our time and work well while we’re still in Middle School.

Some things I do to manage my time is I utilize the weekends. I don’t spend the entire weekend in my bed watching cartoons on my laptop. I spend a lot of it making outlines for future tests, and completing projects. I work hard over the weekends. And then during the weekdays, I don’t procrastinate. I do my homework quickly so that I feel good when it’s done. Then I relax for an hour and then I study for tests. It is 5:00 now, and the only homework I have left is to study for an American Studies test tomorrow, and I’ve already made an outline and flashcards. I’m home-free.