Back To School Advice

Please welcome back PSP Student Blogger Lexie! Lexie is in her senior year at Mount Saint Charles Academy in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Lexie previously attended NOD’s SPAS school in Beijing, China, before coming to America for the 2017-18 school year. Read her first post from last spring right here. 

By Lexi from China

"Time goes by really fast, especially if you are a senior in high school," I thought as I was standing at the exit door of Logan Airport in Boston while thinking about what I had done during the summer.

It is so familiar to me to go through this exit door that I was not panicked at all. Nonetheless, I was a little worried since this is my last year in high school (or should I say the most important year in high school). I know I wasn’t ready, and I know there are lots of people who are just as overwhelmed as I am. So as a person who has been getting used to school again for the last few weeks, I wanted to offer some advice for people who are going to go through this later on.

To adjust your mindset to “school mode”, it is very important to maintain a healthy lifestyle. I am not saying you need to be healthy 24/7, but just try hard to at least be healthy for the first few days. The reason it’s important is that this lifestyle will in some way improve your effectiveness. It’s not hard to understand since a positive lifestyle leads to a positive attitude, which leads to your productivity. With good productivity, you will have a great start for this so-called “toughest semester”.

Lifestyle is not the only thing you need to maintain. Another thing that may also help a lot is your previous study (or daily life) habits. It’s not easy to get used to school when you leave your hometown (place you are familiar with) and go to another nation. There are lots of things such as foods, transportation, and facilities that are different. With the great diversity, it is very useful to keep some little habits with you since it will surprisingly calm you down. Take my example: I like to drink a glass of milk before I go to bed when I was at home, so I make sure I maintain this habit when I am in the U.S. since it makes me feel like I am home. In another word, it makes me feel safe and secure. Even if it just lasts for a brief moment, it’s still worth it when you have school right after you arrive.

Last but not least, read some school materials or school assignments. I know it sounds not only boring. But in fact, if you do it a little by little, day by day, it will make you so much less worried. It may be difficult to achieve, but when you are reading stuff about school or school-related materials, it will increase your familiarity with the school. We have to admit that during a long break from school, it is no doubt that you feel strange when you go back to school.

To sum up, all the advice above is only supplementary things you can do. The main focus is still your mindset and attitude. If you try to be positive inside, you can make it through every obstacle.