I can barely remember a night of my high school years where I went home right after school. Instead, I remember lots of days that were spent running around from place to place, rehearsal to rehearsal, and lots of meetings I had to skip out of early to head over to another meeting I was going to be late for.

I would not say I was an overachiever in high school either, but I would say that I always liked being busy and I liked working hard. All of my friends were in honors classes, so when I got to high school, I worked to move my way up the ranks. By sophomore year, I was in almost all honors classes and in almost half of the activities my school had to offer. I didn't like having a lot of free time, so I would spend most of my days at school until 7:30 in the morning to 8 o'clock at night (sometimes even later), then driving home to have dinner and do hours of homework.

My early years of high school, I would stay awake until one or two in the morning trying to do all of my homework after a 4+ hour rehearsal which only pushed myself to study for any upcoming tests. After a while, though, I figured out that this was not a sustainable way of living, specifically during my sophomore year. I would go to whatever club's meeting I had after school that day, come home, do my homework, and then pass out until 6 o'clock the next morning. I did this every day until the week before winter break when I finally started being able to stay awake until 9 o'clock at night.

I realized that I was burning myself out, so during the next semester, when my high school did Guys and Dolls, I decided that I needed to make a schedule for myself. I needed to give myself time to relax or figure out a way to get ahead in my work so that I would not be running on three hours of sleep each day.

I made myself a study schedule for all of the upcoming tests I had, so that way, I would not end up up all night studying the night before and could at least give myself a few extra days beforehand to study. I asked a few of my teachers about what the homework for the week would be too so that I could make a list of all the assignments that were due and I wouldn't miss due dates, turn them in late, or rush to get it done during first period.

I also learned time management. During lunch periods or after school before rehearsal started, I would work on some of my assignments that were due for the next day. I did not always manage to do them, as most of my friends were there during this time, but some days, we would work on our homework together and talk while working.

I had no idea how much this would end up benefiting me in the long run. By the time I got to college, I felt like an expert at making study schedules. Actually having syllabuses from my professor made it easier to plan ahead too. I had friends who were studying for 6 hours a night for the week leading up to the test. For me, I would study a little bit every week, so that during finals, I wasn't cramming the night before. I even managed to get 7 hours of sleep a night during finals week, something that seems to be unheard of in college.

I learned early on that you need to budget in time to sleep, to see friends, and to eat. I'm still working on not biting off more than I can chew. I'm not always the best at sticking to my schedules, mostly because I have a terrible habit of giving myself more work than I can handle. However because I made mistakes by trying to be too involved in high school, it is easier for me to realize when I'm doing it now.

I learned what things to say no to, what things I really wanted to do, and what things I really had to do. And sometimes, I still need to remind myself, but the fact that I was barely ever home in high school helped prepare me for all of the work I would face and have to do in college.