ALLIE WRITES: It’s April… the sun is out where I live, the weather is warming up, and my pencil erasers are ground to mere stubs. I still have a few weeks of schoolwork left, however. I often find myself not giving my best to my last few tests and quizzes. How can I finish the school year with purpose and passion?
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I really don’t have an answer for this question, but I’m excited to see what everyone else says about it!
What I do is I reward my self along the way. If I have a paper to write, I’ll get say a third of it written then go do something fun for 15 minutes. Other days I’ll have a set number of things to do and once I get them done I’m done for the day. The quicker and more throughly I get them done the more Free time I have at the end of the day.
I’m homeschooled so this method works for me. I dont know if it’s what you were looking for but I hope it helps.
Ugh, I feel you, Allie! I’m already mentally on summer break, but I still have an SAT and three finals. This week I’ve been praying that God would help me be really diligent. I’ve been trying to get more sleep so that I can do quality work, and I’m fasting from my phone/email/social media for several hours a day to help me focus on other things.
Yikes. I just finished an online AP class last week and near the end I was like, “I’m so done with this. Just give me an F. I’ll live. Unless I have to write another essay, in which case you might as well bury me now…” It’s so hard to finish strong when the end is in sight and your thoughts are focused more on being done with the work than actually doing the work. Toward the end of my AP class when all I wanted was for it to be over, I received a lot of encouragement and motivation from my fellow classmates, and I found that when I took the focus off of myself and started encouraging them in return, my attitude improved and I was able to dive back into the work with a renewed sense of purpose.
Something else that helped me was this thought: Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset [us], and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, -Hebrews 12:1
Picture a group of marathon runners. Do they slow down when they see the finish line? No. With the finish line in sight, those runners reach for one last burst of speed and with the last bit of strength they have left, they surge ahead of the other runners and cross that finish line. Sure, the beginning of the race was important, and the middle of the race was important, but if they cross that finish line strong, that’s what is going to be remembered most.
God is standing at your finish line. Not just the finish line of life, but the finish line for the school year, the finish line for your formal education, the finish line for every milestone in your life. He’s cheering you on, waiting for you to make it through. So when you see that finish line, don’t slow down. Run as fast as you can and finish strong. We’re not running TO the finish line, we’re running THROUGH the finish line.
I would suggest praying. Pray that God would give you the strength and the endurance to keep running. Also, try as hard as you can to spend time in the Word before you start school. I find when I spend time with God before school, my day goes way better. I’m also being faced with the same problem, but I’m loving all the advice that everyone has been giving, though, so I’ll probably pull some ideas from them. 🙂
I’m the same way with papers. I don’t like any of the Grammar/Literature/English subjects. I’m more of a Math/Science person. But I’ve had to learn that just because those subjects aren’t my forte doesn’t mean that I can use that as an excuse to not do my best on them. My mom’s actually helped me discover that I’m actually not half bad of a writer and she’s helped me learn how to find topics I want to write about, which is really nice. 🙂
1.) Close all curtains during school hours. Resist the tempting urge to look outside.
2.) Memorize scripture such as Isaiah 40:31 “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.” Phil. 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
3.) Pray God will help you press forward! 🙂
Actually, I love writing. Just not academic writing. 😉 I’m currently working on an action/adventure novel at the moment. Hoping to graduate this winter so I can focus more on my writing pursuits.
Amen sista. 😉
I can’t study in a dark room so my curtains are always open during the day. But I agree with the rest. 🙂
Colossians 3:23 has always helped me in situations such as this. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,” ~ Col. 3:23
Same here. Unless the academic writing is interesting , I don’t like academic writing much.
I got my grades back from last month when I took the ACT… I had been cutting loose and getting crazy the night before so I did aweful. Just a warning that if not much effort is put in you may fail.
I personally hate summer break cause I’m bored all the time
Thanks!
I probably would hate it too. But I don’t get a summer break. I still do a few classes and my work picks up a lot so I’m kept really busy.
For me it’s more “closing the curtains on electronic devices” lol 😉
I’m homeschooled and in the past I have always been tempted to just tell my mom that I was done and this year it was the same until I picked up the book “Do Hard Things” I’m only 25 pages into it but already I feel so much better about myself and I feel that if I didn’t finish my school for 2015-2016 then I would be letting myself down. for motivation in the past I’ve always loved Philippians 4:13.
Exactly. I enjoy writing, just not the academic stuff. I’ve got one due in two days….
Did you do the class through PHC? I am finishing up Government and Politics and Macroeconomics from them. This is finals week and I only have one final left before the AP tests in a week and a half. Yikes! God bless your studying and AP tests, whatever you’re taking.
You should get a hobby! I have so many hobbies that I couldn’t even dream of boredom. Try some new things and see what strikes your fancy!
How are the classes though PHC? I’m taking a couple next year but dont know which ones yet.
Am I the only one here who actually likes academic writing? I just finished a paper on Israel and it was great! Yeah. I think I’m just really weird. The fact that I can sit down and write the majority of a 10 page paper in an afternoon and enjoy it.
That’s the problem, I’m a perfectionist, and it can take me FOREVER to write some things. I enjoy some of the research and planning, I just don’t get around to executing it until I’m short on time.
I definitely agree with you here. Electronic devices can be really addicting and distracting! 🙂
Yes! I am a perfectionist as well and I will spend hours researching something until I have way too much information! 🙂
Honestly, they rock. The classes themselves are very high-quality. Be prepared for some very intense classes, though. They don’t mess around at all. Go/Po was crazy intense, but I am feeling very prepared for the AP test now. They teachers and professors really work hard to make it a quality experience. Which classes are you looking at specifically?
Well. I too am a perfectionist. But for this I just had to write a draft. It took me another couple weeks to finish the final. I pick and pick over my writing until it’s as perfect as I can possibly make it.
Nope, you aren’t the only one here to like academic writing. In fact, I think it’s a very restful activity. I too think I am very weird because of that.
That was really helpful to hear because I felt the same way!
I agree as well! If I’m ever just trying to study or read I always find myself “checking” my phone or computer which then turns into never getting any of my work done and I’m behind.
I dont know yet. Probably a writing class and economics.
Yay! Someone who agrees with me!
And I finally found someone who likes academic writing too!
A dream has come true.
Just joking.
Same for me.
No, I took it through HSLDA Online Academy. They have a really good setup. I enjoyed the class for the most part. Minus the essays. 😉 Also, I’m probably not taking an AP test. I took the class more for the experience than anything else, and also because I do some of the writing/editing/PR stuff for my family’s ministry and I wanted to add a bit more professionalism to my writing. I don’t plan on going to college, but taking the AP course was super helpful for what I am currently doing. =)
Jumping in here, the class I just took was AP English and Composition through HSLDA Online Academy. It was a really good course, if you want to look into it. 😉
Academic writing isn’t my least favorite thing in the world, but I feel like it kills my creativity having so many guidelines in writing. See, I’m a novelist, and academic writing kind of clashes with fiction writing….
Yes, that’s what I meant. I took classes through HSLDA as well. HSLDA used to be PHC, and they are very closely connected.
Thanks. I think that’s one of the classes my parents are looking at having me take.
I love fiction writing! But alas my Grandpa said Im way better at writing from what I know. So I’ve put away fiction for a while and trying to write purely from what I know.
Exactly. Same thing here.
Ooh, are you taking the SAT this Saturday? I’ll be there too. We can do it! 🙂
Yes! Good luck!!!(:
Hey, how did your SAT go? I was thinking about you, haha.
I was thinking about you, too! I think I did pretty well (though I’m not sure about the math section.) How about you?
Aw! Yeah, the math always gets me, too, but everything else went pretty smoothly! We’ll see 😉
Can anyone give me some tips on shutting down the electronics and focusing on my school work