I'd love feedback on my academic plan.

I've been in this back-and-forth battle between two choices for a while now. I don't know what I want to do in the future. I cannot do both options at the same time because if I choose to do something, I will go all in. 1. Baseball A baseball player goes through high school ball and afterward could either get drafted by a team out of HS or go on to play in a college or some independent league. The best case scenario for me is that I get drafted out of HS or college. I go to work in the minor leagues(development farm system in baseball for prospects to rise to the majors), for about 5-10 years. And say if I get promoted to the top, and I do well, then that's great! The average MLB salary is about 5 million per year, and the league minimum(for majors only, not including other levels of minor leagues) is 740,000. If I get promoted to the majors and underperform, I will be demoted back to AAA and probably released by the organization, and my career is most likely over. For context, most players in the minors do not make it to the top, and even if they do, few stay there. It is fair to say that making it to the top is hard enough, but staying there is even harder. As I mentioned before, it takes on average 5-10 years to get to the top, and that means I would be spending most of my 20s and early 30s on baseball. Minor league salary is not great either, averaging 51,000 per year. Now by no means is that poor, but it's not the best. Also: 1-2% of D1 players make it to the majors. 0.01-0.03% of HS players make it to the majors. In conclusion, if I don't make it to the majors, pursuing baseball is not really worth it. If I go this route I am taking a gamble at the future. 2. Not baseball I am currently pursuing research and stem. This is the more steady path. The only downside to this is that I am not really an academically precocious kid. I would be competing with the "geniuses" of the world. This path is more reliable nonetheless.

In middle school, I went to a public school in a decently rich area. School work there was not very hard and I was able to get an A or higher for three years (sometimes it was a bit difficult, but getting good grades was just a matter of how much effort you put in). Now in HS, I go to Harker, a top private school in the entire US. Literally every kid here is crazy good at something. Some of my friends are nationally ranked in tennis, some in math comps. The point is that compared to them, I am pretty far behind. For example, today in Honors Alg 2/Trig, I took a test and probably got less than 70% (honestly probably even worse). The questions on that test were all harder than what was assigned for homework. Even worse, I probably spend 10+ hours doing extra review problems over the weekend. Some kids in my class didn't even prepare for the test and still got better scores than me. I am feeling quite defeated and honestly scared that this is going to tank my GPA. Today I texted a few friends I had back in middle school. I asked them how (public, the one I was supposed to go to) school was and whether it was more challenging than 8th grade. Most of them said that it was a little more difficult or some even said the classes were easier. I know that I can get a really good GPA in public, but now I'm in private and my GPA might be ruined...

Social media is super tempting. One quick scroll, and suddenly an hour’s gone. If you’re finding it hard to stay focused with social media constantly pulling you in, you’re not alone. But there’s a way to take control. Here’s what I do: ⏩ Set Time Limits: Decide how much time you want to spend on social media each day. Use app timers or the screen time settings on your phone to help you stick to it. Trust me, setting boundaries makes a huge difference. Also, always know your purpose and set a time limit before opening the app. This way, I stay focused and avoid getting lost in endless scrolling. ⏩ Create No-Phone Zones: Pick certain times of the day, like during study sessions or classes, where your phone is off-limits. It helps me stay present and focused on what really matters. ⏩ Turn Off Notifications: Those constant pings can be a huge distraction. Turn off non-essential notifications so you’re not tempted to check your phone every five minutes. ⏩ Unfollow and Declutter: Clean up your feed by unfollowing accounts that don’t add value to your life. The less cluttered your social media, the less time you’ll waste on it. By taking these simple steps, it becomes easier to stay on track with your goals, without social media dragging you down. Give it a try—It helped me immensely!

This is an odd and overly specific question: Does the size of the troop where I earn my Eagle Scout rank and hold leadership positions impact college admissions? I’m wondering if college admissions officers consider the size and competitiveness of the troop when evaluating the significance of my leadership roles. For example, if I have a leadership role in a smaller troop with less competitive leadership positions, would that be viewed differently compared to a larger, more competitive troop?