Hi everyone! I need your input on my current situation: I'm in grade 10, which isn't a very important year in terms of curriculum compared to my senior year, but I do have a very important, mandatory literacy test that I must pass in order to graduate high school. As of right now, I go to a semestered school and I'm almost done my first semester; semester 2 starts shortly after the New Year. My dilemma is that my parents have planned an overseas trip for me to visit family back home om February 1st until early March, which would be the starting month of semester 2. In March, I have the literacy test that I mentioned earlier. I will be back in time to do the test, however I will only have a week's advance to prepare for it. In terms of what kind of student I am, I am very well-rounded and in the high 80's to low 90's (this is equivalent to a grade character of "A"). My only problem as a student is that I put things off til last minute and almost always study for tests or finish assignments the night before... But aside from that, I haven't gone back to visit my family back home since I was around 5 or 6. And I most definitely cannot go next year or the year after because I have a lot to prepare for to get into college or uni. Should I go?

This is quite the dilemma. You should go and ask your teachers if there are any materials you can take with so that you can study and prepare while your away.

It depends if you're taking any rigorous classes (ex. AP classes). I'm a junior in high school, and I just moved to the states from Germany. I left Germany in September something, and didn't go to school until early November (I lived in Germany for 3 years, so my family wanted to visit other families and have a little vacation, bad idea in my opinion). I already enrolled in two AP classes before I left Germany, so I had SO MUCH catching up to do for each class (and for my other normal classes as well). My point is, if you're going to go somewhere for vacation, plan beforehand and talk to your teachers, and ask for the material that you're going to miss, so you can at least do some type of studying on your free time.

School is important but family is also important so sometimes it becomes very difficult to balance both.

I'm a distance ed student so travelling and studying is kinda my thing since I can bring all the materials with me. If you haven't seen your family for a long while, you should definitely go now that you have the chance. Later on in life you'll be pretty busy, even after you finish school!

Yeah so bring what you need to study and do as much as you can there while still enjoying your time. AND THEN DO A CRASH COURSE AS SOON AS YOU'RE BACK HOME! (like zooooom~) (~',')~

I would ask my teacher for an extra study guide or an impromptu exam to take along on the trip. I'd still visit the family but before going to sleep I would study/practice for a hour or a hour and a half. Then when you got back to school, ask about what topics you missed.

I would go but before I would go To my English teacher and ask what I could do to pass in that exam

Hmm, this sounds familiar as I've had to take this test as well. I don't think you have to study for it, but there were practice tests on how it's going to be like. They didn't actually tell us to study grammar, essay writing, etc.