On June 3, the juniors of SHSID gathered in the Xianmian Auditorium for the weekly Assembly. Director Yu started off the Assembly by introducing the long-anticipated annual MIX Day events and provided students with a detailed schedule on the activities that various clubs of SHSID had prepared for the day. Some large activities such as the students-vs.-teachers debate, English debate, the Dreamland drama production, and various other theater performances were introduced to the students. Smaller activities such as the exhibit of Luxun’s life in Shanghai from the Chinese department, or the Greatest-Hits-of-Literature challenge produced by the English department offered many captivating mini-games for the students to enjoy while gaining new knowledge in the process.

Moving on from MIX-Day introductions, the students welcomed Charlie Ji from 12(5), to the stage. He introduced the sitting juniors to good time-management and study habits, a crucial lesson that is often addressed but hard to combat. Charlie spoke from experience on how distracting social media can be, and how video games can affect a student’s performance in school. He also shared his experience on achievable ways to train one's inner instant-gratification monkey and stop procrastination. Starting with a specific long-term plan and short-term plan, made with an urgency matrix that determines how important and urgent the task is, students learned to plan according to their priorities. By making a daily plan in mind, students will set their own expectations on what they need to achieve on that day. By creating a well-formulated and detailed plan, one is better equipped to work with a specific aim, and more motivated to reach their goals.

Charlie also introduced digital minimalism where he deletes the apps that are not essential to him, limits his phone usage, and limits the notifications that he receives. He also recommended apps on his phone that help him concentrate on the tasks at hand and avoid the constant distraction from notifications. Charlie concluded his presentation with a thoughtful mind map that summarizes the tips that he believes are the most beneficial to the students sitting in the audience.

(Written by Cathy Wang Picture by Hao Sun Edited and Supervised by Sijia He Reviewed by Qian Zuo)