Make it or break it

balancing their school and personal lives. The equilibrium can become unsteady as personal time is threatened by academics, work and plans for the future, hobbies are abandoned to make time for new responsibilities.

be taken at several levels and can nurture a student’s curiosity and creativity in ways unique to the space. Trained professionals with experience and passion for the subject allow for an exciting introduction to a new outlet or more knowledge and skill building to a hobby that has been developing for a while.

Ethan Sanford, Sequoia’s woodshop instructor, is an example of how extracurricular classes can provide a special environment for students. The woodshop on campus has an extensive collection of tools and resources that give Sanford a unique task of teaching both skills and responsibility. Although the countless pieces of machinery require effort to learn, they also give students an experience that is unlike those in other woodworking spaces at other public high schools.

““In a program with limited depth and breadth, the answer to ‘Can I do this?’ would be ‘No’. But in this program, because of the equipment we have, because of things that were fundraised to purchase, it’s ‘Yes, we can do that because we have this piece of equipment or that piece of equipment,’” Sanford said.

Taking classes in subjects that you are considering pursuing after high school can be a valuable resource for understanding what is next for you. Students are offered higher level classes like those labeled “IB” to be more prepared for similar classes you might choose to take in your post-high school education but with the higher level also comes a higher level of commitment, effort and energy.

“Now they’re asking questions about my art when before, the hobby came naturally and I made what I felt like making because nobody asked me to make it,” Guilaume said. “When I interact with the art I make [in IB Art], it’s not the same as the art I make at home because I know it’s gonna get assessed and it’s held to a different standard.”

BY HOPE CALLAGHAN Co-Editor in Chief

The proverb “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” has more meaning than ever for highschool students with drained school and social batteries due to a lack of time dedicated to hobbies.

Whether it’s art, gaming, baking, sports or any other pastime, everyone has something that tells the world “This is me!” As a highschool student, the infinite forms of self expression are limited by time, space and money leaving students responsible for

“I have to make time for my hobbies and vice versa for work. I’ll sacrifice studying time so I don’t know the content as well for an art project I’m personally working on,” senior Anais Guilaume said about her passion for 2D art. “Or I push [the project] back farther and then I’ll lose motivation to finish it and so I feel like I have to sacrifice one or the other.”

However, new doors can also be opened upon starting highschool as classes, clubs and the large student body provide a space to explore new things. Classes like woodshop, art, photography and food & nutrition can

It is important to find groups of people that share interests with you in elective classes and clubs but it is equally important to consider the impact of these choices. For long-time enjoyers of a certain activity, supervision and teaching is not always necessary. Having a cut out time and personal materials when you already know the basics may be all that you need and pushing yourself to do what you love for a grade can be risky.

“I don’t really want baking to be a big ordeal in school, which is why I like doing it in my free time,” senior Adam Fredrick said, “It’s just something I find relaxing and often when things get too intertwined with school they stop feeling as relaxing and they’ll feel start feeling like a chore.”

On the other hand, Sequoia offers programs and resources that are not always available off campus. Classes like woodshop where students work with expensive, large and potentially dangerous tools if not properly used require students to learn in class as the machinery necessary is hard to find elsewhere.

Teachers and administrators at Sequoia fight the same time battles as they attempt to meet their deadlines and make time for personal development. Teaching the skill you enjoy is a fulfilling way to continue practicing what you love and giving that opportunity to students, however factoring in commuting to and from school, time spent on campus, taking care of personal needs and finishing work at home leaves little room for activities that fall into the “other” category.

Hannah Singh, an English 1 ICAP and IB English HL teacher, has a lot on her plate everyday commuting from San Francisco, lesson planning, teaching and now coaching the varsity softball team. Finding time in slower moments to make time for her hobbies allow her to continue doing things for herself despite the busy schedule during the school year.

“ I feel like [my commute] is weirdly very valuable, precious, alone time for me where I listen to a lot of creative writing podcasts. I love the digest podcast that breaks down like music and analyzes music and I listen to audiobooks just for pleasure and that also feels like self care to me,” Singh said. “I’m kind of double dipping with that I have to be in the car and I’m driving to work, but I get to do something that feels enjoyable. When I listen to stuff like that, it in turn sometimes inspires some like creative writing.”

For teachers like Sanford, it’s easy to maintain a good relationship with their hobby because the passion has been turned into something productive and that can be shared with students in a hands-on way.

“[Teaching] does take up certain numbers of hours of a day, but I’m doing something that I still have the passion that I started with, if not more. I love designing and making things and that hasn’t diminished,” Sanford said. “If anything, it’s expanded my understanding of what’s possible and the logistics that go into making designs possible.”

As a student trying to maintain my grades, a part-time job and prepare for life after high school, it is difficult to manage those tasks and make time for my favorite creative downtime activities like making art, re-organizing my room and building Legos. The only solution to prevent my day-to-day life from becoming a long, mundane to-do list is to set it all aside and carve out time to satisfy my creative needs. Although it can be hard to shut the laptop and put the homework away, a study by the Society of Behavioral Medicine found that the amount of time we spend taking care of our personal needs has a direct correlation with our mental and physical health. The research indicated that people participating in their hobbies were less stressed, had a more positive mood and had a lower heart rate when they returned to their professional responsibilities.

The next time you feel your school battery drained and it seems impossible to start another assignment, try practicing something that brings you joy. Maybe you’ll be drawn to the same hobby you’ve had since before there was no homework or long hours or maybe you’ll press “play” on a YouTube tutorial to teach yourself something new.