Turning sixteen is one of the best feelings because you acquire more freedom. You are able to drive yourself to your new job, which is an amazing experience. With this new freedom comes new responsibilities and tasks. You are in charge of being where you are supposed to be at the time you are supposed to be there. Many challenges can arise and it is your new responsibilities to overcome these challenges.

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One challenge I have struggled with for a while is time management and spreading myself to thin. I had acquired a gym membership when I got my driver’s license, which was one week after my sixteenth birthday. I immensely enjoyed/enjoy going to the gym, so I would try to go as much as I could. This started to take a physical toll on me. I had also started worked at Chick-fil-a in Beavercreek when I turned sixteen. Working at Chick-fil-a has been a great experience but it has brought many difficulties along the way. When I first started working, I was not sure how much time I should invest into working each week. I began to work around twenty-five to thirty hours a week. I worked four days a week from four to close, which is around ten forty-five. I would have to rush home from school, since we get out at three fifteen, then straight to work which gave me no time the days I worked to finish homework or any tasks that I had. Having to manage school, work and going to the gym created a big challenge for me. I would have to stay up very late to complete my homework, and then I would try to go to the gym the next day. I was often very tired and became stressed if I would be able to finish my school assignments.

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 I knew that I needed to change what I was doing or else I would be too overwhelmed and fall behind in school. My parents also noticed that I was getting very tired and rarely saw me doing my homework, so they were getting worried. I needed to change how often I worked because that was the main problem I was facing. At Chick-fil-A, we have the freedom to set our hours that we work. I changed my hours so that I would not work right after school, which gave me time to complete my homework. In doing this, right away I felt less stress overall, because I was not getting anxious about thinking I would not complete my homework. The gym made me tired, but it was also a way for me to get rid of stress. Going to the gym has been one thing in my life that I could rely on to calm myself down which is why I did not stop or slow down going to the gym.

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Although this situation was not an ideal situation to be in, the take away was very beneficial and worth the struggle. I now know that if try to complete too many tasks in not enough time; I can start to feel very overwhelmed and anxious. If this begins to happen, there will be many more problems that can occur which will just make getting back on track harder. There are going to be many more challenges that I will have to face in the future. Knowing my physical and mental limit will help me decide what situations I should and should not put myself into. Although I still try to fit too much into my schedule, as soon as I start to feel stressed over my time, I try to take a step back to figure out what I can change to distribute these tasks. Knowing that I now have this skill, I feel that I have become more prepared for the challenges that will arise in the future.