National Train Your Brain Day is on October 13th.  This date’s purpose according to “National Today” is to raise awareness of the power the mind has and how to exercise those muscles.  

Molly Sroka, a school psychologist at Arrowhead High School says, “Reading really helps me feel more engaged.  It can be easy to slip into the Netflix vortex, and I find reading really helps me feel more satisfied and relaxed.”  

Sroka says her favorite apps, games, and books for brain development are “Wordle, Crossword apps, or a book.”  She likes these things because they “challenge me to stretch my understanding and ability in a way I’m not used to.”  

Sroka says some wisdom to setbacks or challenges she faces:  “It’s natural and human to experience setbacks, feeling down or off, or failure—it’s what we do about it that defines us as people.”  

Another game that students can play to improve or help their brain grow is “Wordle.” This game is a simple but intense game that makes students try to figure out a five-letter word and also gives you hints along the way. According to the website USA Today,  “You’ll start out by randomly guessing any five-letter word. From there, the game will tell you if each letter you guess is in the word and in the correct place (green), in the word but not in the correct place (yellow), or not in the word at all (gray).”

AHS students Anne Straka and Elena Evans said they train their brains through “AP Physics.”  AP Physics is a class for juniors and seniors.   A prerequisite is needed  (meaning you have taken a certain class and passed) in A or B in Advanced Algebra and concurrent enrollment in Functions or beyond.  Students also need an A or B in physics or AP Physics One, according to the AHS Course Guide.  

It is important to train for people to train their brains because as people age, their cognitive skills lessen, and memorizing information will become more difficult, according to Dr. John N, Website and director of social and health policy research at Harvard.  (According to Harvard Health Publishing) Due to the extreme advances in technology and society, it is more important than ever to start “brain fitness.”  Some things that training will affect are a person’s ability to plan, memorize, process information, respond, and be attentive.

Some ways that can expand your brain or test your ability is by playing some brain-exercising games such as a jigsaw puzzle. You can find such puzzles or exercise games on Amazon.  They have a wide variety.  According to the Health Lines website, it says “has shown that doing jigsaw puzzles recruits multiple cognitive abilities and is a protective factor for visuospatial cognitive aging. In other words, when putting together a jigsaw puzzle, you have to look at different pieces and figure out where they fit within the larger picture.” More ways to expand your brain include listening/playing music, learning something new, and meditating. One meditation app that you could use is “Headspace.” This is an app to help you practice mindfulness in your everyday life and learn how to relax and how to manage stress.