Students gather in the AHS cafeteria as a constant noise of laughter, cheer and chewing generates. First, the overseers call the seniors of the students to get their warm, freshly baked and well prepared breakfast. Then, the juniors, sophomores and, finally, the freshmen of the students are called class by class to get their breakfast. These students are A/B Honor Roll students.

Making the A/B Honor Roll is not an easy task; it takes motivation, diligence, dedication and perseverance. Sometimes, students must stay up late into the night in order to efficiently complete their assignments. Some students even pull “all nighters” wherein they stay up throughout the entire night in order to complete their assignments.

AHS junior Rebecca Tong said, “I [work] really hard to get the good grades because I take IB classes.”

Students, like Rebecca, know that they cannot “slack off” if they want to get As and Bs. If one is trying to make A/B Honor Roll, one must not be lazy. AHS Senior Fransisco Cornejo said, “I’ll spend more time studying instead of watching TV” in order to make second quarter’s A/B Honor Roll.

Generally, it is not in the favor of many to miss their favorite TV show and complete their math homework instead, which is why students need motivation. One way students can motivate themselves is by surrounding themselves with academically excelling students. In theory, if a student hangs around them long enough, the Honor Roll students’ work ethic will rub off onto the student. Many students’ parents motivate them to make A/B Honor Roll. Support and encouragement from parents has been shown to generally motivate them to get better grades and strive for the absolute best in school.

“School is like a three legged stool.  Parents, students, and teachers are all responsible. If one leg is missing the stool can fall over,” said AHS social studies teacher Jonathan York. It is hard to be motivated if all aren’t involved. Parents should be required to take classes on how to get involved with student school achievement.

Indeed, it does take a combination of things to make A/B Honor Roll. A big factor that many students deal with is simply not being able to understand the course material. In this case, students should stay after with their teachers and ask for help. The smartest decision one could make is to ask for help. Your teachers will not judge a student because they could simply not understand the material the first time it was taught. However, teachers will not be pleased if the students who ask for help are the same students who interrupt, talk to their friends or sleep through out the entire period.

Students must focus in class. If they know that if sitting next to a friend they will get them off task, then they should not sit next to them. Scenarios such as this cause students to know what they truly want. Of course, it is understandable a student would want to sit next to their friend in class. However, what is more important? Sitting next to one’s friends and being distracted from understanding the material, or sitting somewhere where one can focus, ultimately helping the student make the prestigious A/B Honor Roll?

A student should not think all their hard work for the quarter will go to waste. Having a delicious and decadent breakfast and make parents, teachers, principal, administration, friends, and yourself proud as well as the great feeling of success is worth the hard work. Not to mention for colleges or jobs in the future.