By: Sophia Powell 

Being a good student doesn’t just consist of getting good grades and showing up to school. To be a good student you have to have self-discipline, be diligent, and be confident. Most people think that school is very hard/challenging but in reality, it isn’t as hard as most people think. From what I have learned, as long as you just do the work you’ll be successful! 

1. Be Organized – Being organized is very important in becoming a successful student. If you don’t know where your work is for your different classes or can’t find it in the blink of an eye then you need to get organized. Of course, if you don’t know where your work is then you won’t be able to do it, and your grades will most likely drop. Some ways to get organized is to have a different colored folder for every class, this makes it easier to navigate through your backpack to find different papers because each class would have a different colored folder. I personally know this method works because Ive been using it for multiple years and it really benefits me. 
2.  Create a Sleep Schedule – Even if you are not a student, having a good sleep schedule is very important because it can impact your mental health, lower self-esteem, and create a higher risk of getting depression. Creating a good sleep schedule is actually quite easy. By waking up and going to sleep at a reasonable time everyday, even on the weekends, you’re training your mind to wind-down at a certain time, and wake up at a certain time, it can often make it easier to fall asleep and wake up. Another mistake that teens and adults make is that they often do other things in their beds like schoolwork instead of just sleeping. It is scientifically proven doing work in your bed can cause poor sleep quality which can cause less sleep. 
3. Set a Schedule – Everyone should have a schedule for everything especially for school. Schedules can help balance your school life and home life by strategically scheduling everything so that you have enough time in a day or even a week to finish everything that you need to do. Things to schedule include extra-curricular activities, study time for each subject, but leave time to spend with family and friends. Making schedules helps students because they need to know how much time they have to do things. If they don’t have a schedule then the mistake of studying for one subject too much or too little can happen. 
4. Take Notes – Students should already be taking notes in most of their classes. Notes are a great way to learn and study because when you’re writing notes and reading them in your head it helps obtain the information quicker, then when you read them back it helps you go over them and refresh what you already learned. You should review your notes 30 minutes to an hour after taking them so that the information is still fresh in your mind, notes should be studied everyday for a certain amount of time. In most cases it is easier to have different notebooks/folders for each class so that you don’t get confused or lose the notes that you had just taken. 
5. Ask Questions – Nobody is “too good” to ask questions. Asking questions is very important and if students didn’t ask questions then what would be the need for teachers? Everyone asks questions, even adults. All kinds of questions are acceptable there’s no such thing as a “dumb question”. Especially in school when you’re unsure of something in a certain class, questions are perfect.Oftentimes you can even ask a friend or classmate the question if you don’t feel comfortable asking your teacher. A good method to remember the answers to your questions is to write them down in your notes that correspond with the class, be sure to write the question and answer so that you don’t forget what you asked! 

Although these aren’t the only ways to become a great student, following these five steps can greatly benefit you in school, maybe even in life. By being a great student you can learn how to be goal-driven, perseverance, responsibility, and a sense of respect for the people in your life. There is no reason to not be a good student, it is very easy and it doesn’t hurt to do your work every once in a while!