PERFECTLY BALANCED Students attempt to balance schoolwork, social, family life WORDS OLIVIA STOCK
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PHOTO LEAH TAN
n Great Expectations, Pip abandons his childhood caretaker and friend, Joe, in favor of pursuing a luxurious lifestyle in a big city. While students at this school may not experience such an extreme disruption in their relationships, many struggle to balance their schoolwork and social life. One such student is sophomore Jocelyn Yang. She said this year’s hybrid schedule has been a unique challenge for her in balancing schoolwork and quality time with family and friends. “You’re at home a lot; you lose a lot of your motivation to work,” she said. “When you lose that motivation you just don’t do things and you end up procrastinating it, dragging it out, doing it slower, and then it ends up taking more time. You have less time to spend with the people you care about.” Freshman Joseph Sandy said though he has had a lighter workload this year compared to previous years, motivation has been a struggle, which leads to less time spent with friends. “The virtual work is piling on up,” he said. “There’s been a little less work physically, but there’s been a lot more work mentally just to get it done.” In addition to students struggling with motivation, counselor Kris Hartman said via email she has seen students having difficulties in their social lives due to social distancing requirements or having friends in a different cohort. “I think (balancing school and relationships) is not an easy task in a normal year, but with all that has gone on with COVID restrictions and people not being able to see friends and family, it has been more difficult this year,” she said. Both Yang and Sandy said they would prioritize good grades over relationships if necessary, but for different reasons. Yang said her family’s expectations for her academic performance have influenced how she prioritizes relationships, and have been detrimental to her friendships in the past. “In my household situation, grades are what causes the most strain in family relations because they worry about my future,” she said. “So I would prioritize grades because for them, even if they don’t
Balancing Act Take a look at activities students often have to balance alongside school work GRAPHIC ARCHIT KARLA, PRANAV JOTHIRAJAH Sports: Carmel High School offers: Basketball, Soccer, Football, Cross Country, Track and Field, etc. Practices occur daily with games/ tournaments happening throughout the week
Clubs: Carmel High School offers hundreds of clubs to join Students can also create clubs with administration appoval
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see me as much, or ever really, they have the peace of mind to know that I’m okay.” Sandy said his parents were laid-back about his grades and part of his challenges with balancing school and relationships comes from his own desire to do well in school. “I don’t struggle with my parent’s expectations; I more struggle with my personal expectations,” he said. According to Hartman, ideally, students should not have to choose between grades and relationships, and that if this was the case, the student may need to make changes. “A student needs to look at their workload at school, making sure they are not taking on too much rigor, etc, and are able to have a healthy amount of time to spend with friends,” she said. “If a student feels too stressed
