The clock dawns on one o’clock in the morning. Papers litter the worn carpet. The only light is a small desk lamp sitting next to the open world history AP college text book- for high school students. Sophomore Jordan Geist is almost asleep, his head lying on his arm stretched across the closed laptop. He startles awake, in fear of actually falling asleep at his desk. He stares out the window at the pale moon for a second, and quickly turns back to his work.

He lets out a loud sigh, picks up his #2 pencil and scribbles notes from the open book. But sadly, this hard-working student is not done for the night. He still has his math homework to worry about.

Students can stress themselves out with endless amounts of homework and study times that eat up their spare hours and weekends. Some can manage their time wisely, though most procrastinate. Students are sometimes forced to procrastinate because there are only so many hours in a day. 

“I only have 24 hours, just like everyone else. It’s hard to manage, but I try to keep up and do my best,” junior Ellie Jung said.

The pressure of all the homework and study time involved in taking advanced courses makes some students want to quit.

Freshman, Cindy Kim said that with all that she has to deal with she wants to quit every single day.

However, some students think the opposite. They like pushing themselves to do the best and think of it as almost a pleasure.

“Thinking what it would be like if I quit [everything that I put my hard work into] would be worse,” Geist said.

Along with all the hard work that most students put into their advanced classes, some are in too many clubs to count on one hand.

“I’m in six [clubs]. DECA, key club, NHS, Latin club, diversity club and Student Council,” Jung said, counting on the tips of her fingers. “I like to get to know everyone, and I chose these six so I could experience different areas.”

Although, some students believe that clubs are too much to handle with the academic work load.

“No [I don’t participate in any clubs], because with all the stress of my classes, I wouldn’t be able to,” Kim said.

Besides clubs, there are sports and extra-curricular activities such as band that students can overwork themselves even more. But most have the drive to push themselves to the edge.

“The feeling of wearing a uniform and marching on the field makes me feel that I represent hard work and dedication,” sophomore Beeva Shrestha said.

On average, high school students spend about 18 hours of their week doing homework, yet most still have free time according to a survey of 100 students

 “Yes, I do; in fact, I have a lot [of free time]! I have a life; I don’t study all the time,” Jung said.

Some students tend to procrastinate all the time. But most never really think of the reason that they do. 

“I feel like I’ll have time to do [homework] later, and I get distracted,” Geist said.

The students that have confidence in, not only themselves, but also their work ethic with balancing school work and extra-curricular activities.

 “If it’s of your capability, and you know that you can do it, then push yourself to do your best,” Shrestha said.