Time Down the Drain by Rachel

Time Down the Drain by Rachel - June 2016 Scholarship Essay

There are twenty-four hours in a day - one thousand and four hundred forty minutes. There are eighty-six thousand, four hundred seconds in a day. It seems like a great deal of time, but is it? Out of our twenty-four hours, eight hours are for academic pursuits in high school. This leaves sixteen hours left, but stop, there is more to be deducted. One must take into consideration that there are after-school events for at least two hours daily. This leaves ten hours for chores, homework, studying, and sleep. For today’s normal youth, socializing is chief among priorities, whether with friends, family members, or just people in general. Solving the mathematical equation to fit all of these activities into a twenty-four hour period seems impossible to do on a daily basis. Time should not be an obstacle; however, how an individual manages time can become an issue. I did not overcome this particular obstacle until I realized how it affected my productivity in school. For example, because of not handling time properly, I occasionally fell asleep in necessary class lectures or perhaps just allowing my mind to wander off into a daydream would cause me not to be able to understand the objective of a lesson. Other times, I chose to spend time with my friends instead of studying for an upcoming examination. I did not take the time to place my day into a schedule to have better time management. By making these poor choices, there were many consequences which I had endured.
Knowing all of the repercussions, from previous experiences, I reassessed my priorities by setting my schedule; keeping time set-aside for the general public and activities including my academics. I became organized and avoided procrastination as much as possible. I talked with professors and teachers to make my agenda more malleable to accommodate all of the activities in which I was involved. In the meantime, I changed my way of thinking. I made time for studying, homework, and my family. I cannot really say that I always made the time for chores as I should; the reality is, I am still just a teenager. However, I finally figured out the key to surviving the educational portion of my life. It is good time management. This action made life more stress-free and industrious. If I had not understood this concept and adapted it to my life, I do not believe that I would not currently be the salutatorian of my class. I grew to be an enhanced and more reliable person. The problem was not how much time I no longer had available; but rather, it was how the time available actually was used.