Junior year has made me realize many things about high school.

My schedule before my third year of high school went from having an hour of homework, eating dinner at 5 p.m, and being in bed by 10 p.m., to getting home exhausted from the school day, spending four hours on homework, and eventually giving up and going to sleep at 11 p.m. or midnight.

Suddenly, I had absolutely no free time. For a person with big dreams and no motivation, school was something I started to give up on.

Failure has never been an option for me, but with the junior classes I was and still am taking, I was beginning to lose hope.

By the end of the first marking period, I finally realized that school is the most important thing right now and that it is the only thing I need to focus on, whether I liked it or not.

If I wanted to really succeed in life, I had to work for it and take responsibility. Sadly, I believe that my generation is failing with that.

This year I have become disappointed in many of my classmates. I’ve watched students sleep, talk, or just play on their phones the entire class period and then get frustrated with their low grades.

I’m sorry, but junior year is the time you have to get your act together.

Yes, it’s going to be hard. Yes, that warm bed looks so much more appealing than staying up to finish your economics. But you have to search for that motivation inside you, like I did.

No one’s perfect. Sometimes you make mistakes and fail a test, but you can’t put yourself down. You have to use that to push yourself forward.

One way I’ve built up my motivation was by checking my grades. It may sound silly, but I probably check my grades two or three times a day.

I do this to see if I need to improve in any classes. If I do, I’ll know to try harder on the next assignment.

Another thing I’ve just recently paid close attention to was my GPA. Sadly, I had no idea how important my GPA was until this year. That is also what kicked my butt into gear.

To all the underclassmen, school is important. It’s not meant to be fun. You aren’t here to make friends.

So just remember that no matter what, your school work should always come first.

You can do it. Don’t lose hope.