The week before final exams seemed to catch everyone off guard. A semester full of information jam packed into one test can be a lot to study for. Students who have jobs and activities outside of school that take up a lot of their time can easily become stressed out. Unfortunately, studying isn’t always their main priority.

“After dancing hours a night, when I get home the last thing I want to do is study,” said Daisie Gebhardt, senior.

Students are more busy than teachers think. Nearly all of my peers have some sort of job or activity that takes up a big chunk of their time.

“Having a job makes it more challenging to find time to study, but if I need to leave an hour early to catch up on missing work or to study for a final, they understand,” said Imran Usto, senior.

Usto is able to become flexible with balancing work and school, but some students aren’t so fortunate with their jobs.

“I have to make sure I give my job a 100% because, as a manager, I have to lead and my job doesn’t wait just because I have an essay to write,” said Sean van de Riet, senior.

The big decision students should make before going out and getting a job is whether or not they will be able to handle the two. I’m not going to lie, I’ve caught my grades slipping due to working late in the night before a big test.

“I have a set time for every subject. Creating a schedule helped me decide when I will have time for homework,” said Usto.

Setting reminders and a schedule will help you remember your homework and what you need to study for first. We can all agree that we would most likely study more for our history final than our art final.

“I have to decide which classes are important and which ones I really don’t need as much. I find time by studying in TAP, after work or in the morning while my brother is getting ready,”said Usto.

Studying for high school students is a big problem. Finding some time may be almost impossible. Before you decide to get a job while in school, realizing your priorities may be helpful.