Is this for me?

[Kreiger0]

I'm about to be a senior in high school in California, close to the graduation of my junior year, and some of my friends are/were enrolled in our town's Karate program. I'm interested in joining, however i need good grades next year. I plan on going to Karate twice a week over summer and during my senior year. Will this affect my ability to study? Is it too time consuming? the leesons go from 6:30 to 8:30. Im an AP/Honors student and i'm wondering if anyone has experience with this.

[joesteph]

We have an AP/Honors program in my school, where I teach social studies. These students know how to balance activities with their studies, and I have to say they do a great job of it.

Planning on karate twice-a-week in the summer is a very good way to test the waters, and then in your senior year you can budget your time. That's what it's all about in the long run, time to do each (school and martial arts) justice.

Two hours of karate each session? I wish I had your energy!

[ninjanurse]

I think it is a sound plan. Use the summer to get into a routine-twice a week during the school year should be doable as long as you budget your time for studies. Keep us posted on your progress!!

[Lupin1]

It's all about learning to manage your time. If you make enough time to study on other days and before karate, you'll have plenty of time. Then again, it's different for everyone. I'm such a procrastinator that keeping really busy after school actually helped my grades-- I'd know I only had two hours to do homework/study every night, so I made the most of those two hours instead of pushing everything off to watch tv or whatever on nights I had nothing to do and then I'd just end up not getting as much done. You just have to budget what time you do have.

And keep in mind that colleges want to see kids who can do that. A kid in all AP classes with no extra-curriculars won't impress them much. You need to show you can balance your school work with a healthy dose of after school activities because they want kids at their college who will be able to keep their grades high AND get involved in college activities. This is great practice and will look awesome on your college applications.

[bushido_man96]

You will have to look at the time you have to give to each, and if it is enough to meet all your goals. You may be able to switch times around to make things work, too. It will just depend on how much time you have.

[Spodo Komodo]

Eat healthily, get just the right amount of sleep, lay off the booze, when you are studying - just study, when you are training - just train. I am in the last year of a BA in Classics with the Open University which means that I work a normal day and do all my study evenings and weekends, while training two week nights and Saturday lunchtime. I manage to fit it all in and still get distinctions (sorry, shameless boasting there), it's not for the faint hearted but it is very much possible.

What is more, it will give you a set of skills that will be useful in every job you do - everyone wants you to do more than the bare minimum so getting used to it is a very good thing. It's only hard work if you let it be.

[DWx]

Obviously it depends on what else you're doing but 4 hrs a week is not a lot to make room for. You should be able to do it, sounds like a good idea trying it out over summer too.

My dad always says to me that if you really want to do something you'll find a way to cope and make it work. Besides even if you do want good grades I find its important to take time out to do something else (especially good to do physical activity) otherwise you just reach saturation point.

[sperki]

Studies actually show that high school athletes get better grades during their sports seasons. The generally accepted idea is that they are forced to manage their time better. Go for it!

[sensei8]

I believe that school and karate training will balance each other out, as well as they both might greatly complement each other. My daughter is going into the 9th grade, and in that, she's an AP/Honors student as well. She also does karate [green belt] 3 times a week, school band [flute/piccalo], marching band, band camps, and Menga/Anime conventions. She graduated with all A's. I'm always warning her to be careful when filling up her plate, because an over filled plate can be overwhelming at times. Still, she balances everything that's on her plate quite well...I'm very proud of her.

I believe that you'll do quite well and that you'll be fine!

[bushido_man96]

I like to just try to have a really big plate...with sideboards on it, too.