Academic Wake-Up Call
10th grade hit me harder than I expected. Before 10th grade, my life was easy. There wasn’t any academic pressure in elementary or middle school, and even in 9th grade, I didn’t take any significantly hard classes. Also, for table tennis, I could take days off for tournaments and still balance work and practice. Except now that I am in 10th grade, I have no time to slack off. No doubt this year will be easier than next year, but I am inching closer and closer to applying and going to college. Not only that, I am getting older, and the competition for table tennis is also getting harder. Recently, I went to a tournament in California and took 8 days off from school. Over this time, I noticed how much harder it was to do the assignments and how I needed to study for multiple tests by myself while also trying to focus on my matches.
Before 9th grade, I had background knowledge on most of my classes, and the ones that I didn’t, weren’t too hard to learn. Now that I am taking AP Physics 1, which I have little to no prior knowledge of, AP Government, which I also don’t know much about, and precalculus, have been the hardest classes for me. In 9th grade and middle school, I barely had to study for most quizzes and tests, and instead, as long as I looked at a study guide for a bit before the test, I would be able to easily take it. Now, I have to do practice problems and re-read many of the texts we are given so that I will remember them. Of course, I am lucky to have AI by my side to help me explain a lot of the concepts, especially if I am at a tournament and I can’t ask my teacher for help. Being able to use AI is like having a teacher beside you 24/7, and they won’t get tired of your questions, but even after using AI, the pressure is a lot more than that of 9th grade. This tournament was when I realized how much I had to balance and how little time I had for myself now. Sometimes, I would feel like I was just watching one episode or one YouTube video, but then time would fly by and I wouldn’t get my homework done or finish studying. This was possible last year because I could use my background knowledge and memory from class to perform during tests, but now this year, I need to learn to use my time wisely.
Get Ryan Lin’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
AP Physics 1 is so far the hardest class. New vocabulary, new concepts, new equations, theories, it is a lot to take in, and sometimes, not everything is explained in class, so we have to figure it out on our own time. The tests are not easy due to the amount of practice MCQs and FRQs we get on the study guide, showing that we have to put more time into understanding different questions. Although it is a lot, I am glad that I have some interest in physics, and often when I am doing the questions, I feel happy when I solve them or when I figure something out on my own. In precalculus as well, there are a lot of new concepts we are learning, and it is a big jump from algebra 2, but it is fun to solve equations and figure out the right answer or the right way to draw a function. A lot of people say that government is boring, but in my opinion, learning how the place I live in came to be and what went through to create the life I live right now is interesting, and it also gives me better knowledge of what is happening in current events.
I know that I will be needing to take even more APs in 11th grade, so I feel lucky that I noticed how my time management is bad right now, and I need to change that before it becomes too big a problem. Before, I thought, “Why learn all of this when AI can just answer all the questions for me?” But the process of learning and obtaining knowledge is fun, and figuring out answers yourself is an exhilarating feeling, much better than just getting the answer when you ask. I know that I can’t want table tennis, academics, and fun all at the same time, so learning how to use my time wisely is a crucial step right now, and it will be useful in the future, and even help me improve in table tennis.
