Being Diligent.

In a world growing more and more dependent on the use of cell phones, one needs to realize that "hitting someone with that no reply" is something that should be left in middle school. I understand that sometimes getting you point across to some one can only be accomplished by ignoring someone, and in some cases it is perfectly acceptable. But as you age, the conversations where points like those have to be made will slowly decrease. You may still have the random creepy person that got your number from a friend of a friend, and the random strangers that "slide into your DMs", but other than those exceptions, replying is the mature thing to do. For instance, when you get a job, and someone asks if you can cover a shift, reply no matter what, even if you do not know or know that you cannot. It is just common curtsy, and you will understand the annoyance of slow-repliers when you must have a shift covered. The people you work with will also think better of you if you are on top of things when it comes to your schedule, so always keep it organized and never hesitate to take a shift when you can, you never know when you will need one covered on short notice.
Back to replying; in high school, there are many circumstances you may run into where you get into disputes with your "friends" and talking to them is the last thing you want to do. Let me give you a bit of advice, if they decide to be the bigger person and text you, text back. And if they decide to give you the silent treatment, be a good person and try to make amends. Fights are honestly not worth your time, and not replying to someone is no way to solve anything. Be the person who is the quickest to respond because it makes everyone's day better.
One last thing to remember, if someone is doing something for you, giving you a ride, inviting you to something, covering a shift for you, giving you homework, make sure to make their messages a top priority. They are going out of their way to do something for you and they deserve the fastest reply your fingers can type. If you take my advice on this, fewer people have the chance to get mad at you and therefore make your life easier.
JSL

Procrastination.

Do not call us lazy. Some of us care enough to get homework done on time, others do not, but procrastination is something we all do. With our ever-advancing society, there are more and more things that we need to memorize in order to get that piece of paper or to impress colleges. Just take history for example, think of how much has happened since you graduated! During our teenage years, we are defining ourselves. This includes but is not limited to our interests and what we find important. What I am trying to say is I apologize parents, but these math equations are not something I find especially important to me. 

There are some that are actually lazy, and you can nag them all you want but they most likely will not change. But for the rest of us, do not try and get us to like something we obviously do not. 

To put everything into perspective, think of why you get things done at work. Hopefully it is because you love what you do. 

We do not love school. Hate to break it to you, but learning is not considered "fun" anymore. That ended in like 5th grade. 

Here is my advice, sympathize with your kids. Understand why they procrastinate and tell them they will stress less if they don't. Encourage them to get things done so they can do the things they enjoy. High school is only four years long but it finds ways to drag on and on. 

Your kid is not lazy, and calling them that will not help. 

JSL

Success.

Jayden Lovell

P.6

Why Am I Obsessed With Success?

    Second means there is room for improvement. Even after you win there is still more room because you were the best of the day, but did you break the record? How will you know that your performance is guaranteed to get you to the next level? 

You must always keep working to better yourself. 

    Obsessions are something that typically do not have an end point. For example, when one is obsessed with a material thing, such as hats, the collect as many as they can and feed the hunger that cannot be satisfied. Success is something that is never obtained by someone obsessed with it, because it is rather an idea or dream someone has pictured for themselves. This means that the person obsessed with success will never obtain it in their own eyes, but are able to slowly devour the small victories they win.

    Everyone wants to be successful right? It makes you feel good to have people pat you on the back, recognize your name because you have done something worthy of people knowing who you are. But the people who are obsessed with success never have their thirst quenched. Maybe it is only a high school thing, or has something to do with the fact that I am a teenager, but I know that some adults just sit on their records they set when they were younger and live off the success of the past. Whilst you are a teenager and are going through this phase of constantly wanting to improve yourself, the time you have to do it is limited. Not only are there only 24 hours in a day, but you only have a small portion of your life where you can push your body and its abilities to their maximum. Often times we forget about this time-frame and work ourselves into sleep deprivation, which lead to illnesses, which should lead us to finally resting, but we do not have time for that when we could be getting better. 

Your best can always be better.

I feel as if there are a lot of people who will fall into that category of “used to’s” who once were obsessed with winning but once they are grown are please with the things they have accomplished. Then are the select few who continue on their obsession even after they have made a name for themselves. Those are the ones who cannot seem to get out of the cycle of always wanting to be better, the others, they just go through the phase. 

Maybe I am just in a phase, but the view from first place looks mighty swell to me. 

JSL