With a school education comes a certain degree of work– how much work exactly depends on your coursework, your clubs, and your extracurriculars. Balancing all of that, plus a social life, seems impossible sometimes. So to figure it out, K.T.R. interviewed three seniors who seem to have it down. 

Jack Dreesen, balances four AP classes, a job working at the local restaurant Maya, and involvement in clubs such as B.A.C.O.N. and others. Dreesen approximated that, after a full day of school, clubs take up “like an hour,” and he “works like 3-4 hours on weeknights.” On top of that, he usually has about half an hour of homework each night. Despite such a rigorous academic and extracurricular schedule, Dreesen says he still has “a lot” of free time and manages to maintain a healthy social life. He chalks his success up to the fact that he tries “to finish [his] homework during the school day when [he] has free time.” His advice to freshmen or others who may be struggling to stay balanced: “Get your homework done first, and, when you pick your schedule, don’t try to go for all AP classes because you will have a lot of work.” 

Elodie Price has an equally intense schedule. Price is a three season athlete, runs cross country and indoor track, as well as being on the soccer team. On top of this, she is a member of the National Honors Society, co-president of the Step Up club, and has an architecture internship at U.Va. So many sports and extracurriculars adds up. “I have sports after school every day, so that’s like two hours a day. If I have a meet on Saturday, it takes all day. Sometimes I have to meet over breaks or after school for Step Up, but usually that just cuts into my practice time,” Price says. Despite taking five AP classes, Price says she doesn’t have “that much” homework, because “I do homework during school and manage my time efficiently.” When asked about her free time outside of work, Price claimed that “when you do what you love, you don’t work a day in your life,” although added that, if she had to quantify her time, she usually has “about 12 hours free. And the nights, but I go to sleep early.” How does she manage to stay so balanced? “I like to do homework in the morning, when my mind is fresh and awake. I drink a lot of coffee and water,” Price explained. Impressive work from an impressive student! 

Kason Thomas chimed in with his two-cents as well. Thomas says “Most of my time is dedicated to carrying the C.H.S. Baseball team. When I’m not doing that, you can usually find me on Xbox playing Minecraft and taking care of my ‘MooMoos.’” Thomas takes two AP classes, and says that these activities take up “all of the time,” leaving him with virtually “zero” free time. Of the three seniors, Thomas seemed the most overwhelmed by his coursework, but maintains an optimistic attitude. He explained his method for coping with his amounts of work– “with a lot of Minecraft, I persevere.” 

All in all, there are many methods through which overwhelmed students manage to balance school and life. While these seniors chalk it up to getting work done early, drinking a lot of coffee, and playing Minecraft to unwind, there is no one answer of how to keep up and keep calm. The best option is whatever works best for you!