High school is officially in session, freshmen! Now, are you drowning in homework?

Once students get to high school, it is not all about grades anymore. Not that it ever was, but suddenly, your coach expects you to practice until five, you have a two hour meeting and a one hour lesson to attend. To top the night off, add on two to three hours of homework! This is all anticipated, something that freshmen expects, but that does not mean the transition will be easy. In fact, most students are already bogged down. Yes, summer has been over for about a month, and the freshmen class is beginning to feel the academic pressures of staying on top of school. After all, the balance between school and outside obligations is a precious one.  

As the sports, activities and school work rolls around, the stress of homework can take away a student’s enjoyment of high school. Instead of focusing on the opportunities that this new environment has to offer, freshmen begin to think of school as an obligation. That is not right! Homework should be a guide, not a burden.

In order to gain an inside look on a busy schedule, freshmen student Kira MacGill was asked to explain her thoughts. MacGill is a soccer player on an out of school team, participates in Arapahoe Cross Country, meanwhile doing her best to maintain her school work. Her hours consist of one to two hours devoted to soccer on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, one to two hours for Cross Country practice and three to five hours spent on homework.

When asked about her struggles, MacGill says, “I honestly think it just takes the enjoyment out of school. Like, school is not exactly a terrible place and it is not that I love school, but honestly, having that extra homework just really puts more weight on school, and just makes things, a lot more boring because it becomes more of a chore.”

Part of the reason why students may find it difficult to do their homework is just as MacGill stated: that it becomes a chore. Homework is suddenly the teacher’s method of keeping students busy for no real reason. Well, this is a controversial topic and it all depends on how a student looks at it. While MacGill harbors this opinion, she approaches a different perspective.

“I do think homework is necessary. I think I personally need that, like an extra applicable resource to make sure I understand something, especially something I’m struggling with,” MacGill stated.

Negative perspective may prevent students from looking to homework as a resource, but it is not all about student outlook. Teachers might need to work with the student body in order to compromise because there is a point in which “resource” becomes “burden”.

MacGill says, “But I do think sometimes, given we are in up to six classes everyday, I think that, sometimes we are given too much, and I think that is a little unreasonable.”

If freshmen think that the workload now is unreasonable, how are students going to deal with December, and worse: the finals associated with December? Indeed, why does this seem to be so intimidating to freshmen? That is a question that can be answered in one word: balance. All of these aspects of students lives seem frightening now, but the one thing that make freshmen truly freshmen is that they have not made the adjustments that is so vital to surviving high school. However, despite coming from one environment to another, remember that in the long run, freshmen benefit from this stress.

As a student who is hard at work on sports and school, MacGill gains from transitioning now, more than ever. She says, “I think doing sports all at once is really beneficial because then I have to really take my time more seriously. I cannot just put things off. I mean, yes, that small amount of time can create a lot of stress. Like I have something to force me to work, basically.”

“I just wing it sometimes, because I know that if I do need help I have a lot of resources to bounce back to. And so I feel like even though a lot is expected of me, given I’m in four honors classes, but I know that I have other people that I can talk to if I need help,” MacGill says about transitioning.

Students have to bend to the will of homework, because the homework doesn’t stop. However, it is important to stay calm and keep the anxiety low. In order to do so, refer to the following list.

1. Cut the procrastination, but do not feel the need to do everything in one night.
2. Be in a good environment or somewhere with few distractions and little noise.
3. Plan ahead and try to predict how much you will have the next night.
4. Realize when you need help, and ask for it.
5. Find a non-school related activity.
6. Listen to soothing music.
7. Eat healthy and enough.
8. Exercise regularly.

 
There you have it! Balancing homework is tied to stress, but freshmen students must use what Arapahoe has given them- teachers, off hours, the library, internet access, etc. There really is no easy way to make a hectic life easier, except with time. So, while freshmen are struggling with homework, waiting for the day it gets easier, which may be never, look at all the opportunities, school, including homework, has to offer!