Wake up. Go to school. Go to practice or a club meeting. Go to work. Study and do homework. Go to bed. Do it again: the daily repetitive routine.
When talking to others in the hall, one might hear students complaining about having work after school and having no time to study. Students who work a part-time job are working 1 to 4+ days a week.
Kaushik Yaddanapudi (11) shadows at Northwestern hospital and runs a small retail business that he works at everyday. He is also currently in four AP classes this school year.
Despite having a busy schedule, Yaddanapudi said he handles stress well, and his method is by working out in the morning.
He acknowledged that there are different ways of handling stress for everybody, but he suggested for people to do what makes them happy.
“Find something that brings joy, but doesn’t take up a lot of time,” Yaddanapudi said.
Although he said he doesn’t stress as much at managing his schedule, others feel the opposite.
Joaquin Sarmiento (11) works at Bears Fit three days a week until 10:30 p.m. He is also taking AP Language and Composition and AP US History.
On the days Sarmiento has work, he stays up until 2 a.m. to get all his homework done.
Knowing that he gets home late, he suggested finding a sense of relaxation before starting homework.
“After work, I’m super stressed, so what I do is just sit in my room and listen to music,” Sarmiento said.
His suggestion for students is to focus as much as they can on what they are doing, or else the stress will grow.
“Have a concrete plan of what you’re doing,” Sarmiento said.
Peter Cherepovsky (12) works at City Barbecue five days a week for 6-7 hours each shift.
As someone who is not taking any AP or honors classes, but works nearly full time, Cherepovsky struggles with finding time for homework or studying.
“I definitely don’t think I have time, especially when there’s other things I want to spend my time doing,” Cherepovsky said.
Though struggling to find time for himself, he said that he works for a reason: provide for any of his personal needs.
“I’m working so I can afford a car, my own clothing, and food obviously,” Cherepovsky said.
As a teenager, he said his life can get stressful trying to manage his work and school schedule. When he has the time, he practices basketball or boxing.
“I do things that motivate me more,” he said.
By focusing on what makes him happy, Cherepovsky said that his stress level decreases. He suggests everyone to take a day for themselves.
“When choosing your days off, keep in mind what days you pick so that you can feel like you get a full break before going right back into it,” Cherepovsky said.
Most students who work are upperclassmen, but there are still some underclassmen who have jobs as well.
Avin Kamai (9) works at VHHS as a swim instructor every Sunday for kids ages 6 to 9. As a freshman, she is in one AP class and three honors classes. Also, she is part of the girls swim team.
With having a job, being an athlete and a student, she said time management is key. Her main focus is to get her work done as efficiently as she can.
She said that she tackles the difficult work first and finishes off with the easy work.
While using that strategy, she also said that she tries to finish all her homework the day she gets it. Then, she doesn’t have to worry about it on Sunday when she works.
“Academics come before jobs,” Kamai said.