{"id":3547,"date":"2023-11-01T11:24:34","date_gmt":"2023-11-01T15:24:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/?p=3547"},"modified":"2023-11-01T11:24:35","modified_gmt":"2023-11-01T15:24:35","slug":"the-end-of-the-beginning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/the-end-of-the-beginning\/","title":{"rendered":"The End of the Beginning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"\"><em>By Shivali Shah, Staff Writer<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">As quarter one draws to a close on October 31st, anxiety in students is on a rise. After 10 weeks of new teachers, schedules and classmates, River Hill has just brushed the surface of the school year and what\u2019s to come.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Some students believe that the year started off stressful, finding it difficult to adjust back into the school mindset after summer break. The transition from a relaxing summer to a busy school schedule was jarring and impacted focus and motivation. Sophomore Nika Nikinson describes, \u201cI just didn\u2019t want to do work. I had just come back from summer, I was on vacation, I really didn\u2019t want to do anything.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Not only was the change in activity tough, but changing schedules was hard for some as well. Tenth grader Madeline Thompson comments, \u201cIt was hard for me to start waking up on time because, during the summer, I was waking up really late. I have to wake up at 6:30 now for school.\u201d Having to change daily routines may make students feel hurried or stressed in the morning if they are behind schedule.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Looking ahead, students are also nervous for what\u2019s to come, with big exams, competitions and other events approaching. When asked if she was anxious for the rest of the school year, Nika stated, \u201cYeah definitely, The PSAT counts, SAT counts, and the AP exams also count on top of all the other exams you have to take.\u201d The anxiety towards these exams is almost tangible, as it highlights how much students really care about the outcomes of these tests and how it\u2019ll impact their futures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">With the pressure to perform well in school, many students feel they have to cut back on their social life or extracurriculars so they can devote their energy to schoolwork. As a result, students have less time to do what they love. Nika expresses her worries, sharing, \u201cI\u2019m spread out really thin. I\u2019ve had to cut down some of my extracurriculars, like I dropped guitar, because I don&#8217;t have time for it anymore. And, I\u2019ve been trying to balance my social life, because for a teenager, that\u2019s also very important. And [extracurriculars] make me happy but I\u2019ve barely had time to talk to my mom or my dad because it\u2019s a lot [to balance].\u201d Not having enough time for extracurriculars and socializing, in addition to school work, is a big problem for a lot of students. Being unable to do the things you enjoy can be frustrating and because of this, many students feel burnt out.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Although the stress to maintain grades can be tremendous, especially since grades are finalized after the quarter ends, students have found strategies to cope with the pressure and to be efficient with their schoolwork. One popular method to reduce procrastination and increase motivation is, as Madeline Thompson says, to \u201cdo my work as soon as it\u2019s given, to get it done with. I also try to get my work done before the weekend so I can give myself a mental break during the weekend.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Despite the many hardships, students say they\u2019re prepared for what\u2019s to come. With the right mindset, they\u2019ll be ready for what the rest of the year will throw their way. Nika has an optimistic attitude and states, \u201cIf I work hard everyday and manage my time well, I know that I can push through and make it through the end of the year!\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Shivali Shah, Staff Writer As quarter one draws to a close on October 31st, anxiety in students is on a rise. After 10 weeks of new teachers, schedules and classmates, River Hill has just brushed the surface of the school year and what\u2019s to come.&nbsp; Some students believe that the year started off stressful,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[788,280,789,286,787,269,211,285],"class_list":["post-3547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-feature","tag-end","tag-feature","tag-final","tag-journalism","tag-quarter-1","tag-rhhs","tag-river-hill","tag-river-hill-high-school"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3547"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3549,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3547\/revisions\/3549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}