As summer comes to a close, the infamous back to school commercials hit the TV screens. Often times, schools provide a student planner or other recommendation to stay organized. Some students may find these planners useless, and jot down assignments on their hand. Most of the time, these students are those who don't have after school commitments.
Being involved in school theatre takes a lot of time and commitment. Involvement in other activities outside of school theatre, like choir, band, school government, volunteer work, or any other club your school offers takes dedication and serious planning to make sure you are at the right meeting or rehearsal at the right time. You wouldn't want to show up in the science room if you had an art club meeting!
Luckily, I love to organize things. I get projects done when they are first assigned so I don't have to stress out about them later. I write my assignments down in a day planner. My first two years of high school, in addition to being in shows and a makeup chief, I was in a choir that met for around 7 hours every week, not including performances. I was still studying private voice, took dance classes and took acting classes. I also played softball and was in four other extra curricular clubs, including my youth group, and a bell choir at my church. My schedule was hectic, to say the least. These two years were essential for me, as I learned a lot about myself trying to juggle everything and still get good grades. As the year went on, nights after rehearsal and practice got later. I was staying up doing history readings or math problems, and I realized that organization was not the only thing I needed to be successful in my high school career. Prioritizing what I wanted to do helped me stay sane junior year, even though it was the hardest year thus far. I aged out of the local softball league, so that was easy for me to decide to cut down on. I still go to the batting cages and play catch with friends because I love the sport. I got into a show that eventually went to my state's High School Theatre Festival, and with daily rehearsals with that, I had no choice but to take a leave of absence from choir due to circumstance. This was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made, as I loved the people, music and experiences I had with a choir. I still miss it, but I got the chance to perform in front of hundreds of kids at theatre festival, do other shows and compete with my school choir.
I cannot stress enough the importance of keeping everything written down somewhere, and having an active calendar. Friends sometimes make fun of me for having to check my phone calendar to see if there's anything going on with my family or personal life when they ask me to go to a movie or go bowling, and joke about having me pencil them into my schedule, but it is relaxing being able to know that all my rehearsals, meetings and activities line up so there is no confusion later. I encourage you to experience as much as you can in your high school career, because it flies by so quickly, but also make sure you have the time to do the thing you want to do for the rest of your life, if you figure that out in high school. The other things you love will fall into line accordingly, and you will find other outlets to participate in them.
All in all, my schedule and organization is for the sake of my sanity. Doing what is best for you is the most important task, and having time to relax and hang out with friends is just as important as a club meeting or rehearsal, because being you and being sane is how you actively participate in clubs and activities.
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