To put it mildly, the average American teen may struggle with knowing who to follow, what to believe in, and figuring themselves out. However, courtesy of the equity team, Sanderson High School students now obtain knowledge of some crucial habits that are key to being an effective teen. 

  The Spartan Equity Team covered seven habits key for both teen effectiveness and long term success. The habits covered at the equity fair were: Being Proactive; Begin With the End in Mind; Think Win-Win (compromising); Putting First Things First; Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood; Synergizing; and ¨Sharpening the Saw.¨

  ¨We are by nature creatures of habit.¨ Sanderson High School Assistant Principal and Equity Team Advisor Trenton Brown discusses. ¨If we desire to change our output, results, and current situation, we must reflect and re-evaluate our daily actions.¨

  With how integral habits are to teenagers in the contemporary COVID era, let’s highlight a few habits out of the aforementioned list. First, and arguably the most important of them all, is being proactive, or in other words, being a leader.

  Even though ¨be a leader¨ is somewhat cliche, being proactive and taking the reins is important in all aspects of life. Whether being proactive entails planning the big family reunion, or organizing a make-or-break project for your company 15 years after high school, one´s teen years are a good time to form this habit.

  According to Education.com, being proactive unlocks other habits. In other words, think of being proactive, or a leader, as the ¨gateway habit¨ out of the seven mentioned. With our gateway habit out of the way, let’s take a deeper dive into the habit of Begin with an End in Mind. 

  Once again, being a teenager is a whirlwind of emotions, activities, and many other social elements to put it in the mildest terms. But, Jolene Caselli remarks that high schoolers should have backup plans, a goal in mind, and consider the consequences of their first action. 

  Expanding these thoughts and tips, high school students should have an end goal, or some sort of achievement in mind. Along with this, though, is an overlying uncertainty that comes with being young and just a tad bit nervous when considering the grand scheme of things.

  As a fellow high school student trying to navigate through life, I understand how tough it may be to keep all of these habits in mind every day. So, just keep in mind that developing these habits during your teenage years will pay large dividends down the road.