Many high school students are in clubs or play sports that take up their time. Some also have jobs that they go to after they are done with club meetings or practices. As students are so busy with work, extracurriculars, and maintaining good grades, when do they have time for themselves?

It can be difficult to stay focused and organized when every day is filled with a new challenge that adds something to student’s plates. Shelby Alphin and Jade Allen, seniors at Kempsville High, agree that keeping a planner updated helps them keep their work lined up.

Shelby Alphin often works over twenty hours a week, which can make it hard to stay on top of her work and maintain a healthy social life. When asked how she balances everything, Alphin states: “When I don’t have work, I make sure to work on my assignments at Barnes & Noble with a friend. This allows me to fit in social time while also maintaining my assignment progress.”

But high-achieving students may also feel as though their school work needs to be put before their mental health and their personal happiness.

“School can sometimes make me feel like everything is crashing down,” said Alphin.

She is taking multiple AP classes and Dual-Enrollment English and she feels that she “struggles to get a decent amount of sleep, eat right, and have time to focus on myself.”

Jade Allen also feels the same way and spends more time at work and school than she does with her friends and family.

“The only time I really get to see my friends is when I’m working on school stuff with them,” said Allen.

In order to cope with the stress of school, Alphin trys to cut herself slack. She reminds herself that she is trying her best, and she uses her rare free days to clean her room or do laundry. Alphin says, “I like to do these things to evoke the thought that I am in total control over my life.”

Similarly, Allen tries to set aside time during her busy days to find time to relax and do things that she likes to do.

Ryle Lancaster, junior, is having similar issues. She is involved in many clubs and plays softball for both school and a travel team. Lancaster goes from club meetings to varsity softball practice to travel softball practice and then works on the weekends.

Unlike Allen and Alphin, Lancaster enjoys having her schedule filled. She says that staying busy helps her “feel more focused and well-rounded.”

Lancaster gets home from softball practice around nine at night and takes what she calls a “nap,” before staying up most of the night doing homework. She is afraid of doing poorly in school, which means she has to sacrifice her sleep and mental health for good grades.

Eventually, the lack of sleep catches up to Lancaster and causes her to “feel everything and nothing at the same time,” she says. She adds to that by stressing.

“To stop feeling the worry of failing, you ignore all of the responsibilities your social and school life calls for and you sleep it off.”

Many other students use sleep to cope with the stress that comes with school work, extra-curriculars, and a job.

Some teachers will assign students extra work to help the students succeed in their class. But in doing this, teachers often forget that this is not the only class their students are taking, or that students have other things that take up their time.

Students are beginning to worry more about their academic success than their health. High-achieving students here at Kempsville might be looked up to because of their grades and involvement, but many people can’t see past their GPA.