10 Rules for the Daily Life of a CCA Student | Amanda Arnett

10 Rules for the Daily Life of a CCA Student

by Amanda Arnett

There is no denying the simple fact that high school can be overwhelming, awkward, and physically as well as mentally exhausting. For all you genius freaks of nature out there that easily stroll through high school like you’re frolicking in a flowery field, I know you may have a contrary opinion, but please don’t go writing me a letter of your disapproval and disagreement against my claim. I am only speaking for the majority, and it’s highly probable (as in a 100% chance) that I won’t read it.  

Taking into consideration the highly competitive bubble we CCA students live in, high school can bury you under mountains of homework, and your social life may crumble like the cookie you probably wish you were eating right now. To help you handle the madness and avoid the way the cookie crumbles, here a few rules, tips, tricks, do’s, and don’t’s for surviving and thriving in the daily life of the average CCA student.

1. Write down all of your homework and activities for the day. People tend to rely on teachers’ websites, but when the power goes out due to San Diego’s extreme hurricanes, you will be screwed because I can guarantee you nobody else wrote it down either. You know those little books you get at the beginning of the year with all the blank spots under the days of the week? Those are called planners, and despite the totally contradicting name, they are surprisingly useful at planning things.

2. Have a daily routine. It’s important to balance the almost nonexistent free time you have after school due to things like baseball practice, band rehearsals, and whatever else overachieving CCA students do to assure that you have adequate time for homework, the traditional hour+ of procrastination, and Netflix time.

3. SLEEP. Your lives are busy, yes, but any time can be nap time. I recommend not in AP Calculus though; you might miss something extraordinarily fascinating. But trust me when I tell you that a little nap now and then will not directly result in a rejection letter from Stanford.

4. Be conscientious about where, when, and how you take a nibble of your bananas. Somebody is always watching… @ccabanananibblers

5. Don’t complain about not having a “normal” high school experience. Ok, so we don’t have a football team, but where do you end up if you drive five minutes down the road? Oh yeah… there’s that thing called Torrey Pines. And not to brag, but our football team is undefeated…

6. When in doubt, find Hector: our silent hero, injured bird rescuer, and probably more of our mascot than Rupert the Raven, Hector is the real legend. Every day is made better with a ride from Hector.

7. Don’t attempt to develop cliques, popularity, or social standards. It doesn’t exist here, it never has, it never will. Don’t go breaking our school—not that you could even if you tried.

8. Study. I hope you don’t need one of my philosophical explanations for this one.  

9. Wear and do whatever you want. As long as you don’t insult anyone, who truly cares? If you want to wear footie pajamas every day go for it, personally I would love to join you; as I mentioned, any time is nap time.

10. Do try to participate in school activities. I understand going to events like prom, attending (or participating in) CIF championship games, or dressing up for spirit week can seem silly or like a waste of time. But you will never get another chance to do these things!