Great Advice from Peer Mentor Arlen Pan

Face it – you’re nearly reaching the end of the first quarter of your entire Lowell experience, and you feel as if you’re set. Chances are that you also know that there is quite a bumpy journey looming ahead for the next three years. During AP and Finals week, the sheer weight of “Guys, guys, I seriously need good grades on the final, or I get a B!” is almost palpable. While this is perfectly normal and routine for a standard discussion at Lowell, it also means that everybody has to take into consideration how one is doing versus his or her peers. Is some dude taking 6 or 7 APs next year (more than 4 is quite a lot for a sophomore) just because he can handle it? Does another girl juggle eight classes because she believes that it is the ideal goal to shoot for in every high school? Here’s a mind-blowing piece of advice that everyone should know: it doesn’t matter. What truly matters is if you’re content and happy with what you’re doing. Going for five million credits and trying to clear the entire AP curriculum offered before the end of your four years here? Go ahead – there’s nothing stopping you. The actual question is whether or not you honestly like what you are learning and want to pursue futures in such academic fields. Furthermore, your life isn’t all about school. There’s a social life to maintain, clubs and personal projects to pursue, and if you’re like me, a ranked ELO to mess up. While there’s the obvious discourse of “Ha! What’s a social life? That doesn’t exist anymore,” is still around, academics aren’t everything in the future. Knowing how to interact with everyone and enjoying yourself is quite the important skill in college and life beyond.