This school year (2013-2014) is my first official year in the International Baccalaureate program. The courses I am currently taking are rigorous courses. However, since my school follows a block schedule, I only have four classes per term. Since I don't necessarily have a lot of free time, when I get home from school I've learned not to procrastinate and prioritize. Each evening I would say I typically spend about an hour on homework for each lesson, excluding my PE class. Personally, I think the hardest class for me is actually IB Spanish. The only reason is that learning a new language is difficult. IB English, History, Art, Math and Biology are easy for me. I particularly enjoy my IB Biology and IB Art courses because I enjoy using my creativity and also because I have had an interest in biology and medicine since I was in third grade. Additionally, both classes involve a lot of hands-on interactions. My classes and the homework I do generally fit in pretty well with the rest of my day. I usually come home from school, start doing homework for about an hour, then go to basketball practice. Once I get back from training, I finish any remaining homework. Over the years I have learned to balance school and extracurricular activities quite well. Tip no. 3 Getting the Student of the Year award for my Function Analysis course in my second year influenced me a lot. Receiving this award resonated with me because it really opened my eyes to the fact that as long as I focus on something and stay focused and determined, I can achieve it. At this point, keeping my grades was something that was starting to come easy to me. However, when we had the academic awards ceremony, in my second year in Florida, when they called my name for the student of the year award in mathematics, it was one of the greatest emotions. Of course, math has never been my strong point. Unlike some people who could figure it out with a snap of the fingers, without needing any further information, I needed to break it down. I reduce it to the simplest element and then work from there. Personally I think this is what makes this experience so important to me.