The beginning of the school year poses a very important question: How am I going to fix my sleep schedule? The answer: no one knows. Many students start counting down the days to summer immediately once school begins. They wait for those two months out of the twelve when they don’t have to set their alarms for unseemly hours in the morning, going to bed whenever they choose. By the time school starts, they find themselves wishing they were prepared for the early wake-ups brought by their blaring alarm clocks. Adjusting is challenging, but the drastic change in daily schedules overall leaves students wondering what life was like before mountains of homework filled up their calendars.
If there is one thing summer gives students that school doesn’t, it’s free time. It is one thing that high schoolers look forward to the most by the end of the school year. They can’t wait to sit by the pool with a lemonade in their hand. By the time summer rolls around, students spend most of their time with friends, traveling, extracurriculars, or constantly binging the latest TV shows. This year, especially, students have been waiting patiently for new seasons to release and enjoy comparing episodes with their friends. Sophomore Zoe Piernik, like so many teens, can’t resist being hooked on the latest hit TV shows. “I love to watch shows like The Summer I Turned Pretty and We Were Liars,” she said.
Although summer provides students with more free time, many of them find it difficult to navigate the loose schedule. Even with fewer responsibilities, productivity seems to be much easier for students during the school year. This is the case with Alexandria Daniels, a junior who works better with a set agenda. “During the summer, you have more free time, but there are more distractions because you don’t have the structure of school, ” she said. “You don’t have teachers telling you what to do, so you are more on your own.”
Getting back into the groove of school after two short months away from homework and tests is definitely a challenge for many students at NAHS. Their schedules change drastically during that time. They adjust from going to bed late and sleeping in to waking up early five days a week, with little free time aside from the weekends. While this shift is never easy, students will hopefully soon get into the rhythm of a new school year, no matter how much caffeine it takes.
