For many students at Berkeley High, school is only one of many tasks in a day. By the time the school day is over, students head to sports, clubs, work, and other extracurricular activities. Upon returning home, hours of homework await them, especially for those enrolled in AP or IB classes. Students' schedules and daily lives can feel overwhelming, overloaded, and at times too stressful to manage. Yet, high achieving students are able to manage all of their responsibilities day after day. However, invisible to others is the planning, sacrifices, and effort that students have to put in on a daily basis in order to balance their many activities and responsibilities.
Madeleine Owens, a junior at BHS, participates in a wide variety of activities spanning from ballet, to mock trial, to reading buddies. Owens is also enrolled in multiple AP classes, further packing her already busy schedule. Effectively allocating time to activities while reserving time to study and do homework is crucial, especially for those with an incredibly busy schedule. “I think I obviously always prioritize school and ballet, those are the two that I really put my most time into,” Owens said. Additionally, Owens has activities during lunchtime such as mock trial and dance rehearsal, leaving little free time for her to socialize and spend time with friends and family.
“Time management is just important, using the time that you do have,” Owens points out. Time management is one the most important executive functioning skills for high school students to have, most importantly for students with little time to spare. Although Owens commented that using the time available is important, prioritizing sleep is also vital to success. “I think of it as it's fueling my future and setting me into a good place for college,” Owens said.
Another student, Osby Judd-Wade, a senior at Berkeley High, has an extremely packed schedule, with volleyball consuming the bulk of her free time. Apart from her regular schoolwork, Judd-Wade plays indoor club volleyball, beach volleyball, and manages the Berkeley High boy’s volleyball team. With 3 indoor practices a week, 1-2 beach practices a week, and the commitment of team management, Judd-Wade has not had a free weekend since winter break. “It is definitely tough to get all of my work done while having volleyball all the time, and sometimes having to miss school for tournaments,” Judd-Wade said. Judd-Wade utilizes Google Calendar as a way to plan out events, tournaments, and practices. “Honestly, I do a lot of planning as I go,” Judd-Wade said.
Due to her intense commitment to volleyball, Judd-Wade noted that college applications were a lot less stressful because she is planning to play in college. For other senior student-athletes at Berkeley High, practice every day makes it difficult to put as much time and effort into homework and college applications. “This year we made it to states, so the season was super long and really cut into when I was doing college apps,” Judd Wade said. Because of stress surrounding college applications, senioritis really began to set in upon entering the second semester; at times, it has begun to impact her productivity. “It's really helpful for me to have one day a week where I plan when I can do everything,” Judd-Wade said. Whether it's a tournament, an event, or an additional practice, Judd-Wade recognized that she needs to write everything down to ensure she stays organized.
While balancing Advanced Math II and AP Chemistry — both notoriously rigorous and time-consuming classes — West Murch, a BHS sophomore, is also on the BHS mountain biking team as well as the track team. “I think I got maybe two hours a day of free time during the week,” Murch said. Murch has track practice six days a week, and mountain biking practice three days a week. Because of overlapping activities, Murch has to miss track twice a week. “I have a lot of pretty easy classes like history and English, and my teachers are pretty chill so I get to do a lot of homework during their classes,” Murch said.
Although dealing with intense classes and multiple sports might seem excessive or stress inducing, Murch said that for him, “having more activities is always better.” However, balancing multiple commitments requires strong executive functioning skills. “It's a lot easier if you just get things done as soon as you can,” Murch said. This shows that students who have a busier daily workload are forced to be more productive. By being proactive, Murch can complete his work early and remain fully engaged with his chosen responsibilities.
High school is overwhelming and at times excessively taxing so learning to balance academics, sports, and other extracurriculars is essential. Behind the packed schedules are students carefully planning out how to effectively use their little free time. In the long run, these challenges build student’s executive functioning skills, turning them into more capable individuals, and many of the strategies required are easily learned and accessible to all students.