The (not so) secret life of a high school student

The (not so) secret life of a high school student

As I sit here, trying to come up with credentials to put on my first resume, I wonder if I have done enough in my high school years. I think it is a very common thought to wonder if you have done enough, whether it’s with school or work, but I always think there is a point where you have to be proud of yourself regardless of how many extracurriculars you take. Student Council, LITE team and theater are all examples of my after-school commitments, not including the advanced courses I take during the school day.  I always try out new clubs and advanced classes as a way to feel proud of myself, and eventually write it on a resume. As I get older, my classes become increasingly more challenging and stressful, which is to be expected, but as a student, my daily schedule seems endless at times.

On an average school day I wake up at 6 a.m., I get ready (which roughly takes 10 minutes) and then I finish any homework I was too tired to complete the night before. When I arrive at school, I do my very familiar routine of going to classes for eight hours and having only a 30-minute period at the end of fourth block. During what is supposed to be time for students to work on homework, I work on whatever I need to get done for StuCo. I’m not complaining though, because I really enjoy being apart of StuCo.

Being a sophomore, I get an honor card, allowing me to leave Seminar 10 minutes early, but because I have to stay after school for musical practice or play practice, I don’t have the luxury of leaving school early. So I leave my Seminar and prepare the stage in the auditorium for rehearsal. By the time I get home, it is 6 p.m., and sometimes during show week, I don’t get home until 10 pm. As soon as I get home, I usually spend three to four hours, sometimes even more, finishing up my homework for the next day. Then I go to bed and do it again and again until the weekend, my only reprieve.

During the weekend I usually spend time with my family and procrastinate on my work. But sometimes I have weekend rehearsals for the school’s musicals and plays. By the time all that is done, I have Sunday to complete all the homework I didn’t finish. Then the week starts again and my daily routine begins again.

Believe me, I’m not trying to complain. I actually enjoy going to school and being involved, but sometimes it is a lot. School can be an added stressor to my day, but I try not to let that affect my mood. But staying positive isn’t always the easiest thing to do when expectations are held so high for students. There are times when I feel overworked and stretched very thin but this is how I look at it: the more I do in high school, the less I’ll have to do in college, and to me that’s worth everything.