Things I'm glad I learned in high school

I’ve been at UCLA for about 2.5 weeks now and there are some things I’m so happy I figured out in high school.

1. How to lift weights

I haven’t been medically cleared to row yet (long story short I had an ekg done in 11th grade and they want to make sure I’m not gonna have a heart attack in the middle of practice so I’m being retested) but I’ve been attending practice. I’ve been getting to watch my teammates at weight sessions and see them learn the lifts. Watching them learn how to do cleans makes me want to jump up and grab a bar myself. After lifting at least once a week in high school, lifting became almost second nature. I am so thankful I learned how to do it before coming here because once I’m cleared, I won’t have to awkwardly learn how to lift by myself.

2. How to take notes during a lecture

One of the biggest changes between high school and college is the teaching style. Many of my high school teachers used power points and we would take notes off the slides. However there were the few that would actually lecture with no material. In high school, figuring out what was actually important was hard. I’m glad I got some practice in during high school though because it’s all lecture here.

3. How to do laundry

I recently had to teach my roommate, Kim, how to do her laundry. I also have watched countless other kids looking clueless in the laundry room. After doing laundry all summer by myself, I consider myself to be a seasoned pro.

4. How to make my bed

You’d be surprised how many people don’t know how to do this. There is seriously nothing better than coming back to my room after class and curling up in a freshly made bed.

5. How much sleep I need

I need a lot.