Taking Advantage of my 24 Hours by Christina

Taking Advantage of my 24 Hours by Christina - January 2016 Scholarship Essay

There are never enough hours in the day.
At least, that’s what every high school student tells themselves. Between fine arts, sports, and other activities, many students don’t get home until long after the school day ends, and then there just doesn’t seem to be any time to read for history. Furthermore, some nights you’re stuck doing endless amounts of homework all at once-- not because you were procrastinating, but because there simply wasn’t enough time do it before.
Truth be told, a good student doesn’t only make good grades, they are also well-rounded. I want to be a good student; I want A’s in all my AP classes, but I also want to be drum Major of my high school’s band and editor of my high school’s newspaper. It seems impossible to do it all. But my new year’s resolution is to stop repeating all these old excuses to myself and find out, are there actually enough hours in the day for me to be a good student?
For Christmas, I received an hourly schedule book. At first, it seemed ridiculous. I don’t need to book appointments or anything of the like. But I began to fill it out anyway, adding in all my future band practices and interviews that I had scheduled, and realized I could see how every hour of my day was being spent all at once. On days that I thought I was completely busy, I still could write in an hour to do my math homework in between rehearsals, and as long as I did my studying as soon as I got home, I could still go to bed before ten, all while being a day ahead in my classes.
This idea fascinated me, and school hadn’t even started yet. On New Year’s Day, I decided to keep track of all my homework, rehearsals, and interviews in my hourly schedule book and get things done ahead of time. On the first day back, we received calendars in all of our classes, detailing when tests and quizzes would be. I transferred those into my planner, and looked to see when I would actually have time to study. I worked my homework schedule around my rehearsal schedule, and made sure I got ahead on days I had off. I didn’t waste any time, but I also didn’t add in anything that was too ambitious.
It’s only been two weeks since I’ve been back at school, but after planning ahead for the month, I’m beginning to see how this just may be the busiest month of school that I’ve had in awhile. Our school’s musical is coming up soon, and I’m in the orchestra. To prepare, we’re going to have two rehearsals a day the week before the show. During show week, there will be a performance every night, and two each on Saturday and Sunday. But I'll still be ahead on my schoolwork after the last performance.
This resolution has made me a better student in ways that I didn’t think possible. I don’t waste time anymore; I’m more productive and more motivated. The quality of my work has improved because I actually have time to do it. I’m also doing better with my music because I can schedule when I’m going to practice individually. I finish my work in class instead of doing it at home, just to make sure that I stay on schedule. I’m also able to help others in newspaper with their articles because I’ve already finished mine. Furthermore, by planning ahead, I get to sleep on time every night-- an insurmountable feat for a high schooler. It takes hard work to keep up with everything, but at least I know when I’m going to do it all.
Time is the world’s greatest equalizer. Everyone has 24 hours in a day, and no one can take that away from anybody. By making my New Year’s resolution budgeting my time better and keeping up with a planner, I’m becoming a better student just by taking advantage of what’s already been given to me.