One of the biggest things I’ve learned throughout my first two years at Wesmont is how beneficial it is to utilize study hall. My biggest advice to all incoming freshmen is to learn to take advantage of the time provided during this period and be productive during that time. With 25 minutes every day and five study halls a week, altogether you have 125 minutes —over two whole hours of extra free time to do your homework during school! As the big procrastinator that I am, I’ve found that study hall is extremely motivating for me. 25 minutes is the perfect amount of time to finish homework for at least one of your classes and forces you to stay super focused for that short amount of time, maximizing your productivity. Attending only one of your classes’ study halls for the entire year simply because that’s where all your friends go can be fun, but is not beneficial to your grades at all. I encourage you to attend a different study hall at least three out of five days a week and ask your teachers questions to help you understand their curriculum better. Towards the end of the year, several teachers hold study halls specifically to help you review for AP tests and finals, so don’t miss out on this opportunity to prepare! You may also find that by attending different teachers’ study halls and getting to know them better will increase their willingness to help you. When you wait till your class period to ask them questions it is harder to get the help you need, because they have to tend to all of your classmates at the same time. All in all, it’s important to advocate for yourself and complete your homework with full understanding, especially once in high school, so I highly suggest studying it all during study hall.
