With the new school year starting, many students are struggling to get motivated. Whether you are a freshman feeling overwhelmed with the unfamiliarity of high school or a senior beginning to feel the effect of senioritis, there are measures you can take to start off this school year strong.

An exceptional way to start the year could be educating yourself on the way you learn. There are four major learning styles: auditory, visual, reading/writing, and kinesthetic. Auditory learners learn best through listening. These types of learners may find it easy to remember facts from a lecture or video. Visual learners enjoy graphs and diagrams that include the facts they need to know. Reading/Writing learners find it easy to understand when they are reading from a textbook or notes, they also enjoy writing down the information. Kinesthetic learning is composed of discussion and physical activities, learners need movement to comprehend and retain information.

“Talk to your teachers about it, and experiment with different learning techniques.” sophomore Imani Edwards said.

Taking quizzes online may help you find which learning style suits you best. Learning your style can help you maintain good grades, and your teachers will appreciate your proactivity. Another thing to remember is the importance of your beginning-of-the-year grades to your overall success in the class.

“If you do well at the beginning of the year, you will have some cushion in your grade later on if you have a bad test grade,” sophomore Madhu Parthasarathy said.

If you start off with a good approach to homework and in class activities it will be much easier to continue with it throughout the year. Teachers will recognize that you are making an effort to learn and will be more open to helping and accommodating issues you may face.

Another factor to high school is the friendships you make.

“My hope is to make new friends and I’m going to do this by being kind and open to everyone,” sophomore Kendall Barnes said

If you think about the big picture, how will you want to be remembered? Think about what is most important to you. One major tip to thrive is to find out how to decompress when you have breaks from school. Decompressing may mean hanging out with a few friends or maybe it’s spending a few minutes jamming to your favorite song. The key to stress relief is the key to a great school year.