This really stinks :(

[TwirlGirl10]

So basically, I am contracted to skate 4 days a week. I am in high school and have actually been getting so much homework lately that I have had to miss a lot of skating. By the way, im open Juv, working on Double Lutz and Double Flip. I am really really worried because next year I am taking all honors and AP classes, and its going to be worse than this year!! My parents say we might have to cut down on skating a bit, like maybe only doing 3 days a week and im REALLY UPSET. I know school comes first, but still, it really stinks :(
Just had to vent, sorry
Anyone else with my same problem?

[Hannah]

Most likely, everyone on this board has the same difficulty. I've gone skating when I should be cleaning my apartment / not being late to class / working on homework / sleeping / etc.

The upside to honors / AP classes is that when you hit college, your classes will be easy. I took 19 credits (15 is full time at my uni) my first quarter and didn't know what to do with all my free time. (I should have started skating.) :roll:

[sk8er08]

hey you posted that on usfsa. i replied there. anyway. i am really sorry. i am not going to repete everything twice. lol look at my post there.

[Skate@Delaware]

My daughter, who is a senior in high school, has cut way back on skating this year (her choice). Her final year is just so full of other things: school choir, state choir, plays/musicals, activities with her friends, etc. She decided that she would rather spend time with her friends and classmates than with the few friends on the ice and skating. She wasn't in the Christmas production (she usually skates in 3 numbers) and won't be in the spring show. She is also a high-honors student with a heavy load.

There will always be skating, but school lasts for such a short time, if you look at the slightly bigger picture. Enjoy it for what it's worth.

[Mrs Redboots]

Sadly, that's life! School work really does have to come first, since it can affect your whole career, your choice of university, and so on - I don't quite know how your system works in the USA, but here in the UK the grades you get in the public examinations during the last two years of what you would call high school (indeed, during the last three years) decide what university you get into and what degree you can read for. So that has to come first. Alas.... but that's just the way it is.

Having said that, skating is a great counter-irritant to school work, and the fitter you are, the easier you will find studying! Plus the breaks will do you good - nobody can study all the time. So even if you can only skate at weekends for the next couple of years, just being out there and keeping fit will give you a huge advantage! And maybe your school has a fitness centre you can use in your lunch-hour or other free time to keep up your strength and flexibility during the week?

Don't forget, too, that skating is a sport that you can do all your life - I didn't even start until I was in my 40s! So even if you can't skate as much as you would like right now, at least you know you will always be able to skate!

[Team Arthritis]

One thing you will learn, by necessity, is that the busier you get, the more efficient you must be with your time. For example, you've got 2 hours to write a 4 page paper, now just do it, no excuses, no breaks, no feeling sorry for yourself, just do it! Once you get so that you are studying from flash cards while waiting to pay for your lunch, then you will also be able to make enough time to skate and when you skate you will be able to focus better. You can do it.8-)
Lyle

[samba]

Only 3 days a week, what a poor deprived child you are :lol:

[FrankR]

Sadly, that's life! School work really does have to come first, since it can affect your whole career, your choice of university, and so on - I don't quite know how your system works in the USA, but here in the UK the grades you get in the public examinations during the last two years of what you would call high school (indeed, during the last three years) decide what university you get into and what degree you can read for. So that has to come first. Alas.... but that's just the way it is.

Having said that, skating is a great counter-irritant to school work, and the fitter you are, the easier you will find studying! Plus the breaks will do you good - nobody can study all the time. So even if you can only skate at weekends for the next couple of years, just being out there and keeping fit will give you a huge advantage! And maybe your school has a fitness centre you can use in your lunch-hour or other free time to keep up your strength and flexibility during the week?

Don't forget, too, that skating is a sport that you can do all your life - I didn't even start until I was in my 40s! So even if you can't skate as much as you would like right now, at least you know you will always be able to skate!

I thought that this was such a wonderful post that I had to comment on it. :) That's great advice Annabel! :bow:

[Debbie S]

Only 3 days a week, what a poor deprived child you are :lol:Good to know I wasn't the only one who had that reaction when reading that.

Wait until you have to pay for skating yourself, and then you'll really have to cut back - after all, what's more important, paying for skating or paying your rent? :roll:

[Skittl1321]

Only 3 days a week, what a poor deprived child you are :lol:

I'm assuming the smiley means it was said jokingly, but still, this doesn't seem necessary.

If the original poster is in AP classes, then they seem to be hardworking and probably don't expect everything handed to them. Although clearly the poster is fortunate she is able to skate at all, it's still a matter of disappointment that it's being cut down on.

My take- yep, we've all had to deal with it. As life's responsibilities add up, sometimes the hobbies have to cut down, or else you have to find a new way to fit them in. With available ice time, sometimes that's tough. Hopefully your schedule will work out next year.

[mikawendy]

One thing you will learn, by necessity, is that the busier you get, the more efficient you must be with your time. For example, you've got 2 hours to write a 4 page paper, now just do it, no excuses, no breaks, no feeling sorry for yourself, just do it! Once you get so that you are studying from flash cards while waiting to pay for your lunch, then you will also be able to make enough time to skate and when you skate you will be able to focus better. You can do it.8-)
Lyle

Similarly, with less time on the ice, you can still make good use of the time you have. You can plan what you'll do during each session, and if friends want to chat, you can nicely say, I'm skating much less this year, so I have to make it count--can I catch up with you after the session? (Sometimes I see some skaters skate a number of sessions in a row but spend 1/2 of each session chatting at the boards, so the actual time to skate is wasted.)

[jazzpants]

Well, TwirlGirl10, I could certainly understand your predicament, since I had to essentially quit skating to concentrate on high school. I had to keep my grades up well enough to go to a good university and not a junior or community college. (Yup! I thought THAT LONG AHEAD as a kid!!!) Keep in mind that this is just temporary. You'll be able to do a bit more skating once summer comes around (or on Easter break or other school holidays.)

Lyle made a good point about using your skating time more efficiently, so I won't go into that any more than what he has already done.

If you are studying literature stuff or want some amount of math help, I also suggest Cliff Notes (http://education.yahoo.com/homework_help/cliffsnotes/) to help you along in getting the general gist of things! (Geez, I wish I had the Internet and a computer when I was going to high school! Would have save me a LOT of grief writing papers. Those of you who are old enough to remember what a TYPEWRITER is would probably understand what I went thru to write a essay paper. :roll: :frus: :giveup: )

Good luck! I know you can do this. If you're in AP classes, it's safe for me to assume that you're smart enough to figure out a way out of this. ;) You can do it!!! :)

[Skate@Delaware]

(Geez, I wish I had the Internet and a computer when I was going to high school! Would have save me a LOT of grief writing papers. Those of you who are old enough to remember what a TYPEWRITER is would probably understand what I went thru to write a essay paper. :roll: :frus: :giveup: )
Yes, those were the days!!! I learned the old-fashioned way of cutting and pasting (you literally cut out the paragraphs, rearranged them, taped them together and xeroxed them!!!!!!):lol:

[Mrs Redboots]

Yes, those were the days!!! I learned the old-fashioned way of cutting and pasting (you literally cut out the paragraphs, rearranged them, taped them together and xeroxed them!!!!!!):lol:

You xeroxed them? Goodness, the first office I worked in didn't have a photocopier, they were still very rare.

When I was at school, typewriters weren't allowed - essays were written out longhand or not at all. In fountain-pen, I should add; we weren't allowed to use biros or felt-tip pens other than for rough drafts.

[NoVa Sk8r]

To free up some time or to help with your schedule, maybe you could arrange something with your school. When I was in high school (ah, back in the '90s), I took 4 AP classes but didn't really have anything till 3rd period, so the school let me come in late. That might not sound that great, but it meant that I could get up later and had more time at night to complete my (seemingly endless) hours of homework assignments. I was also involved in some extracurricular activities and held a steady job and was able to get it all done.

Also, a girl in my class was a skater and she was able to use her skating as her P.E. credit. Perhaps a similar arrangement could be made for you?
And perhaps you could do some of your homework in between the zam break? 8-)

[Mrs Redboots]

What is an AP class? And how come you had the same two periods free each day?

[techskater]

AP = Advanced Placement. There's a test at the end and if you score well on it, you can obtain college credit (at some colleges/universities) or placement in a higher level class in others. It's seen as almost a "must have" for people who want to go to the top universities here in the US.

The same 2 hours each day is common. Most HS have a set schedule and if you are done with all your requirements, you can end up with open periods during your day.

[jazzpants]

Also, a girl in my class was a skater and she was able to use her skating as her P.E. credit. Perhaps a similar arrangement could be made for you?I thought of that this afternoon as I was doing the elliptical trainer. Glad someone else brought that up too. (Too bad I wasn't allowed to do that as P.E. since I was a recreational skater then!!! :cry: )

I also remember classmate who was the tomboy of the school actually. She was training for her sport (I don't remember what...) so she also only had to be in class when they had this nationwide yearly "physical fitness" test. So I think this may be something to bring up to your parents and maybe make one of the off-ice training sessions at the gym as your fifth PE day or something....

Slight OT but a funny story about the "physical fitness" test. One of the test that all the students had to do was pull ups! Now, most girls couldn't do even ONE pull up. They just don't have the upper shoulder strength) The "tomboy" not only can do pull ups, but she ended up doing more reps than ALL but a couple of the boys at our PE class!!! LOL!!! :lol: :bow:

[newskaker5]

Hey..dont mock girls with insane upper body strength ;) (says the HS push up, pull up, and dip record holder 3 yrs in a row:halo: ) haha:lol: ;)

[Mrs Redboots]

AP = Advanced Placement. There's a test at the end and if you score well on it, you can obtain college credit (at some colleges/universities) or placement in a higher level class in others. It's seen as almost a "must have" for people who want to go to the top universities here in the US.

The same 2 hours each day is common. Most HS have a set schedule and if you are done with all your requirements, you can end up with open periods during your day.Thanks. Do you have the same timetable every day in most schools, then?

Here, timetables are arranged on a weekly basis (occasionally fortnightly), as for the first five years of secondary school, people take more subjects than can comfortably be fitted into a day. But free periods during Years 12 and 13 (known as Sixth Form), when only first five and then (normally) three subjects are studied, are common. Daughter used to be able to skate on Wednesday mornings, I seem to remember, as she was free then. And possibly Fridays but I can't really remember.

[jazzpants]

Hey..dont mock girls with insane upper body strength ;) (says the HS push up, pull up, and dip record holder 3 yrs in a row:halo: ) haha:lol: ;)
You wouldn't happened to have been a tomboy at the time or got excused from PE classes b/c of your sport, did you??? If both are true and you have also gone to HS like back in the early to mid 80's... you might be my old classmate!!! LOL!!! :lol: ;)

Since you're the record holder in HS for 3 years... :bow: :bow: :bow:

[newskaker5]

haha - nah grad in '98 but maybe its a relative? haha jk I never tried to get out of gym due to sports credit - but I really liked gym so it seemed to work out

[miraclegro]

Hey Twirlgirl,

My daughter had a FULL load her Junior year with AP honors classes. I talked with her about some changes last year and she wouldn't listen. This year she either listened or someone else had the same idea. She took dual enrollment classes instead. They are the community college classes but at her school they are offered there. We are in the city school syste, so... All of it PLUS books were paid for, it was actually MUCH easier, she didn't have to worry about scoring a"4" or a "5" to get the college credit on AP. She just passes the college classes, gets college credit (at most of our state schools) and if they dont EXACTLY transfer, she will get the credit for them as an elective. Plus she will have at least one full semester out of the way.

She was never super great at placement tests, and now she is doing great, getting all A's, playing her many many sports, and i am glad we made that choice! Hope this helps!

[Terri C]

Also, a girl in my class was a skater and she was able to use her skating as her P.E. credit. Perhaps a similar arrangement could be made for you?

Sometimes, it depends on the school system.
One school system in my area is extremely tough when it comes to the attendance policies. Several of our skaters that attend school in that district have tried and tried to get early dismissal/ PE credit for skating and they are simply told no. One of my coaches has two daughters who both swim competitvely and the oldest one had a meet in of all places, Northern Virginia two weeks ago. In order for the girl to not be counted absent from school, she had to go to school for a grand total of 5-10 minutes before heading off to Fairfax- she had to be there at 12:30 that day.

[Casey]

"People who are resting on their laurels are wearing them on the wrong end"

Hang in there and just work your hardest TwirlGirl10 - it'll be tough at times but you'll manage if it's what you really really want more than anything else! :)

[mikawendy]

Sometimes, it depends on the school system.
One school system in my area is extremely tough when it comes to the attendance policies. Several of our skaters that attend school in that district have tried and tried to get early dismissal/ PE credit for skating and they are simply told no.

ITA, Terri C--when I was in high school, I tried to get early dismissal/PE credit for intensive ballet lessons and my school said no without even considering a request--they have always had a no exceptions policy in that area.

[NoVa Sk8r]

ITA, Terri C--when I was in high school, I tried to get early dismissal/PE credit for intensive ballet lessons and my school said no without even considering a request--they have always had a no exceptions policy in that area.I grew up in New York (upper Westchester County). My school was A LOT more lenient with kids who had higher grades, go figure.