As the school year approaches, new and old faces walk around the high school building, locating friends and classes. With experience from either middle school or from the previous years, students create goals throughout the year, especially at the beginning of the year. Similar to the New Year’s, students are creating resolutions for their school year.

During class, there can be issues from the start: classwork, homework, no friendly faces, and distractions. Whether it be from friends, food, or just daydreaming, distractions can cause one to lose focus and miss information. Mckenna Kalesz, sophomore, plans to put her full attention towards class and take notes to guide her for tests.

“Going into sophomore year there’s a lot of things I learned freshman year, which was to start off immediately being really productive in class and taking better notes, especially being more organized,” Kalesz said, “I really cut through school supply shopping this year, getting only the bare bones I needed. I didn’t get all this fluff, and I only bought pens, pencils, and this really huge notebook. So I’m going to focus a lot with taking notes and maximizing my productivity by clearing my head space.”

While distractions are another problem in the workspace, establishing a strong relationship with teachers may be an obstacle for some people. Isabelle Buccelli, sophomore, admits finding some difficulty talking to teachers and asking for help. Hoping to improve her grade on a difficult class, she plans to ask her teachers questions and grow closer towards them.

“Last year, I did not try very hard in math because I did not care enough. I was too scared to ask my teachers for help because I get scared talking to people So this year, I will try to improve on that,” Buccelli said, “ I am going to get a tutor and get help after school from them. I need to get that extra help so I won’t fail.”

Within the first few months of the new school year, tests start to appear and will change the outcome of one’s grade in a particular class. The test may seem approachable and easy, but Joanna Michniak, Elizabeth Michniak’s parent, warns students of the outcomes of not putting enough effort.

“When you study for your first test in each subject, is to get a good of a grade as you can. Your second and third tests always seems to be okay but if you bomb your first one and you get a really bad grade, it’s extremely hard to pull up that grade throughout the school year. It holds your grade for the rest of the semester,” Michniak said, “I think they should take notes and I think they should ask questions. I think kids are afraid to ask questions. Unless you ask them questions specifically what you need help with, they are not mind readers. They don’t know what you need.”

With experience from past years, students form their own goals to accomplish for the new school year. It may be difficult, but they plan to change aspects from their previous years to be successful this year.