Students in the 2020s are expected to take AP, Dual Enrollment and Honors courses in school. This can wreak havoc on their lives, especially if they play a sport, have a job or even dare to have a social life. Many students attempt to do it all and end up burnt out during First Period, Monday morning.
Many students at Raider Nation are devoted consumers of energy drinks such as Monster, Redbull, Celsius and Alani. Students don’t drink them for the taste alone, though. Recently, at the Dual Enrollment night for UNG, the speaker stated that students should be spending at least an hour on homework per night, per Dual Enrollment or AP class. This alone can be a great deal of work for a student but the load increases when factoring in sports and a student’s regular classes.
High-level colleges require students to be “well rounded” to even get waitlisted, yet this is unattainable for many students. Balancing a sport, AP classes and extracurricular activities such as clubs and organizations is too much for many students who may have other things going on in their lives. Students involved with the theater program often have little time each night to go over homework. Rehearsals often go on to 7:30 each night as a show approaches, and more time spent rehearsing on the weekends. This does not include time spent rehearsing lines on their own, which can vary from person to person. Weekends are not safe spaces though, theater students spend Friday nights and all day on Saturdays when the time comes to perform the show.
The schedule of a student only gets fuller when a job is introduced. Many upperclassmen have jobs to pay for their cars, sports or various other possessions. This can alter the schedule of students even further, as many student’s jobs take away what little free time they have left. This can lead to a sense of isolation from other friends that participate in different after-school activities. This isolation can lead to degradation of mental health. This decline can be seen in grades, which only pushes the student to try harder and study more, perpetuating the cycle even further.
With a fully booked schedule, many students do have great grades and are doing well in their extracurricular activities, but this comes at the cost of their mental health, sleep schedule and social life. Is the price paid to your health worth doing well in school?
