STRESS RANT LET'S GO

Okay, here's the thing: eighth grade doesn't do shit to prepare you for ninth grade.

For me, eighth grade was an absolute breeze. There wasn't the pressure of having to do well because of college, and there wasn't anything too difficult that needed to be done.

Yes, I did take that test in seventh grade that enrolled me in the eighth and ninth grade Honors Math program, so I ended up taking tenth grade Honors Math this year. Not only did I register for this class, but I also registered for Honors English, AP Geography, and Honors Biology on top of that.

Why did I put myself through this hell? Well you see, I didn't think it would be this bad.

Last year, I loved History, and even though I knew that Geography isn't the same thing, I thought that it couldn't be that bad. Also, the whole "college credits" thing appealed to me, so I wanted to give it a try. I also enjoy English, and thought that I might need a little bit of a challenge, so I decided to take this class. For Biology, it was honestly because I didn't want to take Earth Sciences, and the school district had recently changed that you had to take a test to enroll into it, so took the opportunity I was given, and enrolled in all the possible Honors courses at Treasure Mountain Junior High.

Of course, there are the upsides of each of these classes. In AP Geo, my teacher, Mr. Jeffrey makes at least one Donald Trump reference a week. I highly despise that joke of a man, so I approve of every joke Mr. Jeffrey makes about him. My Biology teacher, Mr. Christensen, is hilarious and, for some reason, my friends and I refer to him by his middle name ninety percent of the time. There isn't really a reason for that, it just kind of became a habit. My English teacher, Mr. Parker, who has already been mentioned in this blog, is very funny as well. His class was also where this blog originated. Even my Math teacher can be chill sometimes.

I can manage pretty well most of the time, but lately, I've had other experiences. The end of the quarter is coming up soon, so many of my classes have been finishing up projects that we've been working on and giving out unit tests before finals.

I know I shouldn't care as much as I do, but I sometimes, I feel like the pressure of doing well in ninth grade makes me kind of crazy.

Courtesy of Hannah's Tumblr

Last week, for example, was very stressful, and I didn't quite know how to deal with everything I had on my plate. It was the first week that High School Swimming was in session, so I had to get used to the whole new schedule of my after-school activities. I had missed the previous Friday, so I still had some catching up to do. I was two days behind on my AP Geo reading, and the last vocabulary quiz of the quarter was quickly approaching. I had to make up a Math investigation that I missed, do the homework that went with it, and, since my class is flipped, I had to watch the lesson for the next class. In English, I had to get a rough draft finished for the social issues research paper we were working on by Monday.

I was constantly in a state of catching up, and I had no time to rest. As I explained to my friends when the week was nearing an end, I was at about the same point of stress equivalent to Britney Spears in 2007. If for some reason you don't know what I'm talking about, let your eyes view the photo on the side.

I feel like I shouldn't feel as stressed out about school as I am, but, as Abbi explained in one of her recent blog posts, it is how we've kind of grown up to believe. She said in her post that, "their grade matters more than their education," which, sadly, is very true to many. Students worry too much about their grade to actually learn anything.

I wasn't quite ready for a week like last week so soon into the year, but I managed to get most of the things on my plate finished. I had to adapt to everything that was going on because I didn't know what to do with myself.

If you don't get anything from this blog post, remember this. Eighth grade is a smooth boat ride compared to the waves of a storm throughout ninth grade.

Anyway, carry on.
xx Em