Time goes faster than you think, so it is important to use it wisely. I learned how to manage my time wisely after I joined the math team. Before I joined the team, I wasted a lot of my time doing things that were not educational, such as playing board games during study hall in school and watching T.V. at home. The experience of joining math team taught me to use every second of time that is available to me.

I joined the math team on Sept. 17, 2008, which was the beginning of my sophomore year. There are two different kinds of meets in math team. One is the practice meet, which is held on every Wednesday morning at seven o’clock in the school. The second kind of meet is the competition meet. It is once a month and it’s usually on the first Monday of the month. The competition meets are at different high schools. Even though I joined the math team, I still thought that I could spend my study hall hour playing and talking with friends, instead of doing homework. Nevertheless, I was wrong.

October 6th, 2008, was the first day of my competition meet. I had one assignment in advanced algebra, a couple of contemporary world studies review questions, and a reading assignment in biology. I didn’t use my time in study hall to do my homework. Instead, I talked with friends the whole hour. I also spent the remaining thirty minutes of my lunch time playing basketball in the gym. So I didn’t get any of my assignments done in school. The competition meet was after school and the bus left at 5:15 pm. I thought the meet would only last about an hour. So in that way I would still have a lot of time to do homework at home. However, I was wrong again. The meet lasted for several hours and I didn’t get home until 9:30 pm! I was very disappointed. That night I sat in my room and did my homework until midnight. I was tired and exhausted. My mom talked to me that night. She said, “If you don’t use your time wisely in school to do your homework, then you will end up being stressed out like you are now. Come on son, you are a big boy now, I know you can do better than that.” I stay silenced. My mom continued, “I hope you don’t make the same mistake again in the future.” Then she left. I sat in the chair, starring at the blank wall, and thought about what my mom had just said for a couple of minutes. Then I quietly stood up and went to bed.

Now that I’ve been on the math team for two months already, I have learned a lot from my mistake. Whenever we have meets now, I always use my study hall to do my homework. I don’t talk as much in study hall; all I want to do is try to get as much of my assignments done as possible. Plus, after I finish eating lunch, instead of going to the gym to play basketball, I go to the library with my friends and continue working on my unfinished assignments. I have gained a lot of knowledge just by joining math team. I understand now that in order to become a successful person in the future; I must use my time wisely.