MS Hacks
By Izzy Wright
Girl Using Personal Computer, Wearing Wireless Headset by Prostock-studio
Created in Canva
As a middle schooler, I know how difficult it can be to feel disconnected, especially as a new student at NSA. It can be hard to find people who share your same interests and sense of humor. There are a few tips and tricks that will help you.
The first thing that will help you is to meet others and put yourself out there. You can go to the Teams channel “NSA Newbies” and there will be many people that will welcome you and you can meet other Newbies. If you’re not comfortable writing a message for yourself, you can browse other Newbie’s posts and reply to one of theirs. There are really kind people at NSA and no one is going to judge you. While you are on the NSA Newbies channel, go to “General” and hit the button at the top that says “A Guide to NSA”. It has many helpful and hilarious things to greet you.
Another great way to show your interests is to join chats. You can ask around for all of the different chats. Most of them are either inactive or they are super spam-loaded, but if you find one that talks about things that really interests you, you shouldn’t mind. Some of my favorites are: Among Us, Disney Fans, Full House, GIF chat. They are such fun ways to stay connected while still having fun.
I love the little calls that are offered every once and awhile. You can find these on your Landing Page after you log in to Buzz or in your “Announcements” tab. You get to talk in small groups and play games with other students. I highly recommend going to at least one!
Everyone at NSA is super friendly, so just shoot a text at a random person and make a new friend. I’ve done this a few times and it works like a charm. Maybe choose someone who is pretty active though.
I interviewed Brooke Foster, she is on StuCo and has been at NSA for nearly 3 years! Here are some of her best tips on how to stay connected: I would say the first tip is to just jump right in. With so many different channels within Teams (especially in the Student Body team), there is bound to be something or someone that shares your interests. Whether it's joining in on a roleplay/quest or just introducing yourself in the NSA Newbies team, the best way to get involved is to take that first step. We also have various clubs at NSA, which can help you connect with others who have similar interests. My second tip would be to keep up with the Announcements channels in your grade team and Student Body team. The StuCo and NSA Administration try to always have something going for students to share their creativity and talents with their fellow classmates! One of my favorite events is the NSA's Got Talent contest -- we have so many talented students at NSA, it's amazing!
Finally, I would recommend checking out a live session or two! While we can't be in the same classroom as in a brick and mortar school, NSA utilizes Zoom and Teams calls to connect students. Not only is this the best way to put faces to names, but live calls are also so much fun! One school favorite live event is the Spiritual Emphasis Event (SEE), where students of all grades can come together to share their love for God and His word (small shameless advertising moment, the next SEE is March 8th-12th, 2020)!
She also had some great tips on how to stay up with school while still staying connected:
School definitely makes it difficult to stay connected. I know I've definitely been guilty of that this past semester! Something I've found to be helpful is to set some time aside during the day to take a break from homework and relax with friends. Just be careful that you don't procrastinate for too long!
I hope you have a great time getting connected. If all of these fail, send me a text and I’ll be your best friend (no matter what grade you’re in) :)
Izabell Wright has been attending NSA for two years now and this is her first year writing for the Navigator. She has always loved writing and from a very young age, she was writing short stories and children's books. She loves to make videos and always has a creative outlet. Although she is still in middle school, she plans to become an environmental lawyer.