3 minute read
trying to have it all
Temporary Success
With ever-growing expectations, students struggle to find a balance
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By Reilly Scobey
Print Assignments Editor
We all have a routine, something we have grown accustomed to doing. Whether it be the time we work, doing homework, or attending school, we all have things we need to get done, but for senior Maiya Boian her routine has given her a lot of stability. During the school week, she spends the first half of her day in the CAPS program where she is able to transport herself into her future and fully immerse herself into the life of a doctor which she plans to become after high school.
After CAPS, she attends her regular classes before heading off to her club meeting for the evening. Boian has been a part of many organizations at school, but currently, she is a leader of FCA, secretary of Epsilon Beta, a member of NHS and NAHS, and she is on the Scholar Quiz Bowl team. When these clubs aren’t taking up Boian’s time, she finds herself busy with homework, studying, applying for scholarships, and prepping for the ACT.
With such a jam-packed routine it is a miracle Boian is able to get anything done. While she is able to manage everything, she finds it hard to squeeze everything into her routine.
“I love all the activities I’m in, but I have a meeting or something almost every day after school, which means my homework gets pushed back,” Boian said. “So I can’t do much outside of school on weekdays.”
Being a part of so many things doesn’t only impact Boian’s time for school work, it impacts her ability to hang out with friends. With a lack of availability during the week, Boain finds it hard to make time for friends.
“It’s frustrating sometimes because I really want to go do something, but then I remember I have homework or a project to be working on,” Boian said. “Basically, I need to know really far in advance [in order] to go to social activities, so I can plan [schoolwork] around it.”
Boian isn’t the only one who finds it difficult to manage everything, junior Katelyn Guth believes her extracurriculars give her a chance to be social.
“Activities definitely impact the time available for social events, but they are also opportunities for socializing themselves. No, I can’t really go to Chick-fil-A with my friends after school, but I can spend two hours with them at practice,” Guth said. “It’s not really sacrificing social time, just changing the way it looks.”
Outside of long-term effects to social life, pressures from parents and teachers to achieve the improbable set an unreachable precedent for what students are able to achieve academically and otherwise. Boain feels the pressure more than anyone, as a go-getter she constantly feels like she needs to one up herself in order to succeed.
“Society expects teenagers to have it all together, be involved, and get good grades because these are ‘the best times of our lives’ or something, but in reality, it can be overwhelming when you realize all society expects from you,” Boain said.
Boian isn’t the only one who thinks society’s ever-changing expectations deter students, senior Vann Hettich finds it difficult to meet expectations.
“Everyone is always changing their views [based on] what’s popular,” Hettich said. “So it’s tough to be ‘successful’ because you want to fit in with [these views].”
While society’s expectations have caused many challenges, Guth believes these expectations can be many’s favorite parts of high school.
“I think an argument can be made that doing well on a test or maintaining a 4.0 are the fun aspects of high school. It’s not the same kind of fun as going to a football game, but it’s always fun to do well,” Guth said.
While many would argue with Guth’s claims, she believes the ‘fun aspects’ of high school are different for everyone.
“No one ‘trades in’ the fun aspects of high school by maintaining a higher GPA, the ‘fun aspects of high school’ are just defined differently by different types of people,” Guth said.
