Once upon a time... i lived in the USA. I came in year 5, and I had to learn the 50 states and capitals. And i somehow managed to! It didn't actually take that long... i think it was over a few weeks?
Don't remember much of it now, except that Nevada is N-next to California, and Oregon is On top of. Hope that helps! Now that the HSC is over, you have time to learn these not-going-to-help-you-in-the-future things!
Thank goodness i missed learning the 40+ presidents!