It is the final grading period, and while preparing for exams, I realize just how much I have learned this school year.
Surprisingly, only about half of my knowledge comes from the teachers. More often, it comes from working with classmates.
Once I get off the bus and sit at my desk at home with an apple or some pretzels, I open my backpack and begin sifting through the day's assignments.
Some days I breeze through the homework with little difficulty, but then there are days when I get stuck on one or two concepts that I just can't remember from class.
With no teacher to turn to for advice on how to continue, I flip open my phone and look through my contacts for classmates who might have understood it better than I did.
Usually they're having the same trouble I am, and we can apply what we know and come up with a solution.
I receive as many of these last-resort phone calls as I make. As we approach our last couple of years of high school, we are expected to do more on our own.
I notice everyone is more inclined to work together and help each other out on assignments because of this.
It's not that there is not enough time to ask questions in class, but when there is a teacher explaining things, however, tasks seem less daunting. Once alone at home, the confidence dwindles.
Whether working on math homework in study hall with a friend or talking about a passage from the nightly reading for English over the phone, a second or third opinion really makes all the difference.
My math class has been my most difficult course this year.
To better understand the material given during class time, I work with two friends who have the same class in my 11-minute study hall every day.
We go over what was taught and share simple ways to remember complex formulas.
After school, I get on the phone and talk with a friend about our anatomy homework.
We review the functions of organs and study for upcoming tests or quizzes.
Having a reliable group of friends to turn to when the homework assignments are difficult saves me from the time and frustration of plowing through confusing material alone.