Nadely shares her experience of how hard she worked to get good grades and show discipline but explains how her sleep schedule changed as she went through different school grades.
First off, I've always been a person who is very dedicated to their studies. Even in middle school when I wasn't at Chinquapin, I remember staying up doing homework pretty late. My workaholic tendencies have always been very present, but that doesn't mean I wasn't pushed hard when I arrived at Chinquapin. Suddenly, I found out that I wasn't the "smartest" student. I wasn't the one that "stood out" and that in itself was very hard for me. I found myself struggling in classes like, for example, Spanish, which I had never taken an academic course for. I think back in 9th grade, it wasn't a habit of mine to wake up early and I was more of a night owl. However, boarding at Chinquapin meant there were curfews and I had to change the way my brain operated and had to figure out how to use my time more productively if I wanted to pass my classes. It was very hard to transition and my sleep schedule reflected that as I was suddenly waking up at 5:30 am to read for Stephen's class, do my Spanish homework for Postigo's class that was so hard for me, and at the same time try to feel at home in a new school where at the time, I felt like I didn't belong. Throughout high school, my sleep schedule hasn't changed since the moment I arrived. I usually find myself getting no more than 6 hours of rest each night. As the years went by and I started taking more hard AP classes, it was clear that 5:30 am was my prime time. It was me time. And each of my roommates over the past three years can tell you how heavy and tired my eyes looked every day in the morning. Chinquapin has been hard and if it wasn't for me waking up early to finish Craig's homework, writing all the essays we have written, and having my planner that I love so much, I don't think I would have made it. Not only did the classes get harder, but I also started participating in numerous extracurricular activities, in and out of Chinquapin. Over the past 4 years, I have participated in at least 15 extracurricular activities and it has without a doubt taken its toll on my body, physically and mentally. I have no regrets, though, because I did everything I wanted to. But it came with a heavy cost and that was my sleep.
The most recent example would be in the summer after junior year and first semester of senior year. In the summer, I participated in TWP's virtual summer program, which was one week. Then, I interned for a virtual India internship (3 weeks). After those two programs, I was pretty worn out and then I got accepted into my writing fellowship (which I didn't think I would be accepted into) that eventually allowed me to get published, but it lasted for 10 weeks. In those 10 weeks, school was going on (virtually) and that in itself was really hard for me. To keep up with my writing, senior classes, applying for my lovely 18 colleges, and my extracurricular activities (which at the time I was also designing a program for TWP), my sleep schedule suffered a lot. That's the point of me telling you this haha. I remember there was one night where I had procrastinated on three of my articles and they were due in 2 days and I hadn't done any of my homework and it was very late at night. I remember feeling like there wasn't enough time and I wasn't gonna be able to do it all. I don't remember what happened or how I did it, but I do remember that I slept no more than 4 hours a day each for two weeks because of all the deadlines. I also wasn't eating as much and so I have lost weight (not the good kind) because of all of this that I just mentioned. I don't know if all of this wouldn't have happened if I hadn't attended Chinquapin, but Chinquapin gave me the opportunities to try so many things and I did it all haha. It's been hard, but I don't have regrets and that is one of my life goals :)
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Nadely Requena
Chinquapin Preparatory School, Class of 2021
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