5:30am – Wake up and drive to school to catch the team’s bus to the Takoma Aquatic Center for morning swim practice.
6:45am – Swim!
8:15am – Hop back on the bus with my fellow Tiger Sharks to return to Jackson-Reed for school.
9:00am – Since I don’t have a first period on A days, I sit in Panera and devour an everything bagel sandwich. To prepare for class, I like to work on homework assignments or read the textbook chapters we’ll be going over in lecture later.
10:20am – Goodbye Panera paradise, hello school. 2nd period is AP Lit with Ms. Conroy.
11:50am – I enjoy lunch with my friends.
12:40pm – AP Bio with Mr. Flack. #WomanInSTEM
2:05pm – I round off my day at school with AP Computer Science A. But my classes aren’t over yet!
3:30pm – I stop to chitchat with friends for after school before driving over to George Washington’s Mount Vernon campus.
4:00pm – Board the GW Vex, the shuttle that takes students between the university’s two campuses. I usually take a nap during the ride.
4:20pm – On my way to GW’s Gelman Library, I stop in the Starbucks just outside. A shaken espresso refreshes me for my final class of the day.
4:45pm – Multivariable Calculus lecture. I find two of my classmates, fellow JR students. We compare our work on the latest problem set with a GW freshman we befriended and talk about our upcoming Friday quiz. As my professor teaches, I meticulously take notes, practicing my 3D drawing skills as I copy the figures on the board.
6:00pm – Take the Vex back to my car and drive home.
6:45pm – I eat dinner, scroll on social media, and decompress from the day.
8:00pm – Back to work. I crank out any leftover homework assignments for my AP classes and begin studying for my weekly calculus quiz using some practice problems from Paul’s Online Notes. One thing that helped me succeed in a college course is finding what study methods work best for me, as lectures are densely packed with new material. Although my professor assigns optional homework problems with an answer key in the textbook, when my answer doesn’t match, I have no idea where I went wrong. Paul’s Online Notes (not sponsored, but shoutout Paul) not only reiterate the lessons my professor taught in class, but provide practice problems with step-by-step solutions and diagrams.
11:00pm – After some on-and-off studying (I’m easily distracted), I get to bed for some much-needed rest. I’ve got another early morning ahead of me!
