As it gets closer to the end of the year, seniors begin to reflect on their time in high school. Senior valedictorian Lucy Kaiser has worked hard the past four years to be where she is today and her hard work is something that many underclassmen can learn from.
Kaiser suggests different ways to help stay successful.
“Stay organized and have a planner. I know a lot of people do [planners and calenders] online, but I’m a paper planner kind of gal. Figure out what works for you to help you stay organized and ahead. That helps me,” Kaiser said.
According to Kaiswer, staying organized is one of the most important things you can do to be successful. When you have everything planned out it, not only keeps you organized but it also helps you plan ahead.
“Working ahead helps because I feel like a lot of the times life comes at you out of nowhere. I don’t know if you’ve ever had a week where you feel like you’re super on top of things and then all the sudden you have a million things to do. I try to avoid those situations by working ahead when I do have downtime,” Kaiser said.
Staying ahead of schedule is a huge way to avoid getting caught up with lots of work to do at once. The last thing students want to do is get a late work penalty. Getting work done ahead and on time is the best way to stay on top of things.
Not only is Kaizer the valedictorian, but she is also a student athlete, which comes with a whole other set of commitments. Being a part of the volleyball, softball and swimming teams is a big commitment, and with school on top of that there’s lots to be learned about how to manage school and outside activities.
Finding time to study and get work done is important when having lots of other priorities.
“I think it is really easy for a lot of people to take downtime in between school and practice and just not want to do anything, which is fair, but I feel like for me, once I get home, I don’t want to do anything else. Using down time in between school and practice or school and games to do work is really helpful,” Kaiser said.
Taking the time to get work done, even when it’s hard, is very beneficial. It takes a lot to be able to go to school and after school activities everyday with homework on top, but finding the time to do the work is crucial.
Using the school resources is a way to knock out work and get help in order to stay successful.
“The new student support system has been really really helpful. Knowing that there’s a designated time where I can show up and ask questions and get more one-on-one face time with the teachers [helps a lot],” Kaiser said.
It’s not always easy to get all of the help needed while in class, so utilizing the time teachers stay after to help is a way to get that extra assistance.
“I would say that North Central is really interesting because we offer a lot of really cool classes for virtually free. Once you are in college you have to pay for them, so I would say try everything,” Kaiser said.
It is important to utilize classes you are interested in and that might not be free in college. Finding classes that are interesting makes school better.
“Do what brings you joy. I’d rather take a non AP class that I found fun and exciting than take an AP class just to take it. Do what you want,” Kaiser said.
Prioritizing what is most interesting and enjoyable is very beneficial when it comes to getting work done and being motivated to go to school.
If students focus on what they want to learn about, it’s very easy to decide to take certain classes for a good grade or to get extra points.
“I feel like my biggest piece of advice would be don’t try to rig the system. There are a lot of ways you can gain class rank. You can take easier AP classes just to get the weighted credit, but I would say honestly that being valedictorian is not worth taking classes you don’t enjoy,” Kaiser said.
When striving to be valedictorian, it’s important to embrace the classes and time in high school. Trying new things and taking challenging classes that are enjoyable is important and makes school more pleasurable.
“I’ve learned not to be such a perfectionist because I feel like a lot of kids come in and they expect for everything to go well all the time and that’s not where learning happens. Learning happens when you fail so I think being okay with failure and knowing that it’s bound to happen to everyone [is important],” Kaiser said.
It’s important to understand that everyone makes mistakes and not everything is easy, being able to learn from failure is a big skill to have.
“Again, failures are bound to happen, everyone has bad days, everyone has bad tests and the only thing you can do is move forward so don’t beat yourself up,” Kaiser said.
