By Cheryl Mattox Berry
For the past week, we’ve watched in awe as athletes have won gold, silver and bronze medals at the summer Olympics in London. We’ve cheered their victories and despaired over their defeats. We’ve seen the best athletes in the world at the top of their game. It’s no accident or luck that they’re competing in the Olympics. They got there through discipline, dedication and determination (the three Ds.)
However, you don’t have to be an Olympic athlete to go for the gold. As a student, you can employ the three Ds to make As and Bs. It’s simply a matter of making up your mind that you’re going to study hard, no excuses, day in and day out. That’s discipline, dedication and determination. You’re going to demand the same kind of perfection from yourself that you do from your hair stylist and manicurist.
You may not have done that last year, but in a few weeks the opportunity presents itself again with the start of a new school year. Are you ready? I don’t mean do you have new clothes and school supplies. Are you mentally ready?
Have you thought about your academic goals? Is this the year you need to pull up your GPA, take an AP class or make the Honor Society? That won’t happen if you don’t have a study plan going into the new school year. If you already know your class schedule and how much time you’ll spend on extracurricula activities, you can set your daily schedule now. The priority: study hours.
Juniors, in particular, need to be mindful of grades this year because the transcript sent to colleges the first semester of your senior year will be from your first three years of high school. And you want your junior year to be impressive.
When school starts, don’t worry about what friends are doing. Stay focused on doing your personal best. You may have to forgo hanging with them sometimes because you’ll need to hit the books. Don’t worry, though. You’ll still be able to have fun, but this school year you’ll have a purpose – you’re going for the gold!