Staring at an AP Statistics problem while trying to stay awake, her eyes slowly shut while sitting at a desk. The clock strikes 2 a.m. For another night in a row. The feeling of being overwhelmed consumes her mind as she answers the last question.

Abigail Noble manages school and a job, and extracurricular activities, which tends to become stressful for her and a majority of students.

“It is stressful only if you don’t have the time to manage the other aspects of your life such as homework, a sport, which for me is softball, and other clubs. I also do chamber choir,” Noble said.

Noble tries to find time to manage all the school work given by teachers but that can be extremely difficult giving her little time to check her work making sure it is efficient enough.

“Any extra time I have between or during classes I usually use to get all of my homework done. I take AP classes like AP statistics and AP Psych which tends to get a decent amount of homework that can take hours to complete,” Noble said.

Difficulties balancing a practice schedule, school schedule, and work schedule is difficult for students. Late-night practices on top of work on the weekends are common for Noble as she prepares for the softball season to approach.

“When softball season starts for me I’ll have to drop shifts during the week and have to end up working extra shifts on the weekends to still be making money. I usually stay up late on Saturday nights to finish all of my homework, which causes me to miss hanging out with my friends which can suck sometimes. My homework can take anywhere between two to four hours and I’m usually up till about 2 am. I do this so that I can go to bed earlier on Sunday night so I get good sleep for the next day at school,” Noble said.

Noble surrounds herself in a positive environment at Regal Cinemas to help her with a stressful schedule. Having a positive atmosphere has helped her relax after the first half of the day at school.

“I am a floor staff member at Regal Cinemas. I do like my job. It is fun and my coworkers are all welcoming and kind. The managers are really nice as well, but they are the kind of people who use tough love, in a good way though to where work is enjoyable,” Noble said.

Blake Rainey finds work and school a manageable combination. Cracker Barrel is flexible with hours to help create time to handle schoolwork or to attend other activities.

“I am not too stressed out between work and school. My job is very flexible so it balances out with my school life. I don’t get too much homework from all of my classes. I would have to say that this year is a lot less stressful than last year since I didn’t take any honors classes this year,” Rainey said.

Rainey also has maintained a trainer job which can create positives and negatives. More responsibilities in the work field adds to the stress levels and hours put into work, which can affect the amount of time left to complete homework. Acquiring those higher-level skills can be effective for time management and maturity levels. 

“I am a host at Cracker Barrel. I sometimes bus tables to help our waiters and waitresses when we are busy. I just got promoted to a trainer which includes training coworkers for hosting and the occasional busing. A majority of my coworkers are older than me. I do get along with most of them which is nice to have in a work environment,” Rainey said.

Kadyn McCady lacks sleep affecting her day-to-day life at school. When she doesn’t get enough sleep, she focuses less, her grades drop, and her social life sometimes starts to fall due to that extra free time used for sleep.

“I feel tired a majority of the time because I have to wake up during the weekdays early and go straight to school. Then right after school I have to head straight to work with hardly any time in between for myself. Then on the weekends, I work at both of my jobs which is even more tiring because I still don’t have time for myself. I work at the South Lebanon Kroger and Kings Mills Taco Bell. Both are decent jobs, but balancing both can be tough at times,” McCrady said.

Mia McFaline, a sophomore, is only allowed to work a few hours after school due to her younger age. Age can determine the number of hours one can work, allowing 14 and 15-year-olds to have more time to themselves due to minor labor laws. 

“I don’t feel too much stress handling my school and work life. My job at Chick-Fil-A is very flexible with my hours. Since I am only 15 I can only work three hours after school due to minor labor laws. Once softball starts, it will become a bit more stressful because I won’t have much time to do homework and work,” McFaline said.

Late nights staring at a computer or a sheet of paper in hopes of answers to appear are common for McFaline. Students should get anywhere between eight to 10 hours of sleep, this isn’t the case for McFaline and others.

“Depending on how much homework I have, I don’t end up going to bed till 11 pm or even 12 am. I usually don’t feel tired in the mornings though. I wake up at 5:30 am and take a shower to help myself get going in the morning,” McFaline said.

Gaining a set schedule or learning time management helps McFaline to be able to balance school and work in a more responsible manner. Schedules help things flow with more ease for McFaline, create more downtime, and help one with stress.

“If I could give advice to anyone who struggles between work, school, and their personal life it’s working on your time management. I use an app called ‘Done’ where you can put in your tasks for the day and mark off each one as you complete it. It has helped me get a lot of things done and not be as stressed out,” McFaline said.