Balancing home, work, jobs, and sports is very difficult for most high school students. Some Marist Students have advice to make it easier.
Most students, especially freshmen, do not know where to begin when juggling many new responsibilities.
“It took me a really long time to finally get a schedule that worked for me and I’ve always struggled with time management, but my senior year I decided that if I’m going to college next year, then that’s something I need to improve on,” says senior Maeve Briody.
Planning out schedules and having time for things in between, can be a hassle. Seniors have learned from their years of experience.
“I am a big planner kind of person. I used to say that planners are dorky, but if you find a good planner that you will actually use, it really helps. I just write everything I need. Every class you will find me writing in my planner. When I’m done with things, I can check them off and I feel so productive. It’s also about setting goals for yourself,” said Briody.
Students have many tactics for squeezing in homework and jobs, but what about people who don’t have jobs, and just loads of homework?
Freshman who have advanced classes, have more homework than those in academic to Marcellin classes.
“I normally have two to three hours of homework each night, which usually consists of math, West Civ, English, and Spanish,” says freshman Annamarie Schied.
“Whichever homework assignment that takes the longest I will do first, because I know that it’ll be the hardest to complete,” said freshman Jayla Cunningham. “You just have to manage your time, have your priorities straight. If you have algebra homework, but also have biology, start with that. Biology isn’t my best subject, so I would say to just do the biology assignment, then do the algebra assignment.”
Social life is also in the mix. Friends and family are just as important as school and activities.
“I find time for others on days that I don’t have practice, or on days that I do not have homework that I’m able to go out after practice. I normally don’t have practice on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays,” says Schied. “I prioritize homework over going out with friends or going on electronics.”
School can be very stressful, especially for high school students with jobs, but the rewards may be worth it.
“It has been such a work experience for me to learn about work ethic. My job teaches me hard work and it is so worth it when I get that paycheck every two weeks,” says Briody.
