Junior Stays Calm With Organization and Prioritization

Each Monday, Hamilton-Wenham Patch will be featuring a different "." This week’s “Whiz Kid” is Heather Kuebel.

If you know someone you would like to nominate, leave a comment in the box below or e-mail at robertg@patch.com. Please provide, name, age, school and what makes them so awesome.

Heather Kuebel

Age: 17

School:

Church: None

Clubs/Sports: (JV captain this past season), student government (junior class representative), school newspaper (hard news editor)

Accomplishments: My group’s placed third at the district competition.

Through the school newspaper, Sound Off, I have been published in the Hamilton-Wenham Chronicle seven different times.

I have maintained a 4.1 GPA.

I organized the basketball games concession stands, which earned the junior class over $1,000.

Heather's keys to success:

In my opinion, the most effective ways to be successful are being able to prioritize, organize and stay calm. With school and extra curricular activities, I've got a lot of different due dates and responsibilities to keep track of.

In order to make sure I get everything done, I find it extremely helpful to make lists of what needs to be handed in when. This goes along with my belief that organization is key. Making sure everything is where it needs to be is essential to keeping stress levels low. It only takes a few moments to compose your belongings, and it will save a ton of time later.

In addition, I think it's really important to remain calm, cool, and collected.

One thing that I like to tell myself when things start to get out of hand is that in a day, week, or even month from now, it will all be over. Something may be stressful at the time, but once I accept that all I can do is stay focused and put in my best effort, I stop worrying and start being productive.

Finally, if I wanted to get really specific, I'd say that the most important things for long-term success are an email address worthy of a grown-up, a general knowledge of the rules of etiquette, and a large capacity for sincerity and compassion.