Olive Schmidt is a Junior at Muscatine High School, she’s the kind of girl that you WANT to be. From her hot pink backpack to her mini gold hoops, she is an IT girl. Schmidt is Vice President of Student Council, Plays Tennis, and is in Cheer. (So basically doing it all) That said, let’s dive into Olive’s Guide on how to be the perfect student.
Olive opened up that despite having no older siblings or having older siblings of friends to look up to, her parents have always been her biggest role model. “I would definitely say my parents are my biggest influences in my life because without them I don’t know where I would be” Despite different aspects of parenting, Mrs. Schmidt is a perfect example of a consistent Mother that wants to see her child succeed. “She’s not a strict Mom, I would die for her. When it comes to my grades she’s always quick to ask “okay, what’s going on?” even if i have a B in a class”
Motivation is such a strong issue that schools face in today’s generation. It is common to see this aspect lacking when mental health plays a role into someone’s physical ability to attend day-to-day. “I go through a lot of dark times, and I am a very silly-happy person at school, but on my own I am not,” said Schmdit. However, there is also an on-going trend in which students today can be so quick to dismiss class. Whether the reason is that their parents do not have access to their PowerSchool, or that they “Don’t care.”
“That’s what I think the key is, that their parents aren’t saying anything to them and they don’t have anyone their to motivate them to tell them what they should be doing”
A big part of this issue is that students don’t see the underlying issue that their life academically really does matter, and it’s not just some teacher pestering you about your schoolwork that was late, or maybe it is. Looking at life in the bigger picture, and where these things, these habits that you tend to, are going to get you in the future. “What house am I gonna live in? Do I want a mansion? Okay maybe I wanna marry Zendaya.”
Looking forward, after she graduates, Olive looks forward to pursuing a degree in communications, as connecting with others comes naturally to her. If anything, Olive connects her communications skills that she’s taken for Student Council with her throughout the duration of navigating her future plans.
Coming from St. Mary’s to a public High School was definitely an altering change to say the least. “ I had so many more classes I could take, so many more people I met.” Transferring from a private to a public school was more eye-opening than anything, with that she took advantage to try and talk to everyone she could and anyone who would look her way (even if they didn’t she’d probably say hi)
High School has taught her many things, but one of the most important things being, “There’s gonna be so many people that you meet in your life that you would’ve never thought you’d talk to that love you, but at the same time not everyone’s gonna like you.”
Along with that, Olive also shared a memorable piece from a video that she recently watched in class that said “you’re not gonna remember the hate but you’re gonna remember your friend’s silence.” you really aren’t going to remember the hate, because it’s not valuable to your life. While you are going to look back and question why you didn’t utilize your time with the people who didn’t make you doubt yourself.
“Something that I’ve learned in High School is to Just take things as they are, but remember there’s always someone out there that’s going through the same thing as you and you’re never alone.” Olive explains it’s important to just be yourself and not conceal yourself from society because of fear that someone’s not going to like it.
“I only have one shot at High School, 4 years to complete it, so live it to the best”
