Parkway Central is the home to many successful students, not just in the realm of school. There are multiple students that work jobs, play sports, and take AP classes. Throughout it all they are still able to maintain good grades.
Good grades and a good work ethic isn’t everything needed to be successful in life. Many colleges look for sports, extracurricular, and much more. Sophomore Brody Blatt is not only an AP student. Blatt is a committed and determined swimmer.
“Swimming is a big part of my life and always has been. I practice almost every day and I am always trying to be the best swimmer I can,” Blatt said.
Blatt used his passion for swimming to get a job as well. He works as a lifeguard over the summer, and uses his work ethic to persevere through stress.
“The one thing that has really helped me be more productive in school is my mindset,” Blatt said.
Sophomore Michelle Khalfin has had to challenge herself to be a better student and athlete. She is enrolled in honors classes and is involved in our athletics program.
“I practice every day after school for two hours and I work roughly ten hours a week,” Khalfin said.
She showed us how she is able to maintain her busy life style. In her free time she likes to focus more on herself.
“In my free time I like to hang out with my friends and relax and organize my room,” Khalfin said.
Being able to relax is very important not only to Khalfin but many other students as well.
“When I get the time off I really try to sit back and take some time to myself,” Blatt said.
Another struggle that students find themselves is the amount of work required for AP classes.
“It is definitely a struggle to get all of my assignments done but if I put head down and work I can get it done,” Smith said.
The key part of our students to getting good grades is finding a balance through working, school, and playing sports.
All students have a different way of finding a balance.
“I like to make myself a schedule and a planner. I make sure I have enough time for everything in my planner,” Khalfin said.
With a planner she is able to block out times of the day to the exact minute of when she is going to do her school work. Khalfin isn’t the only student that finds this method useful.
“I used to make a mental note of all of my work but recently I started using a planner. It has helped me a lot with my stress because its one less thing to think about,” Smith said.
In order to find a balance it is necessary to be hardworking and organized.
