By Ashley Reiss
Staff Writer

Even without extra-curricular activities school is hard work. When homework and extra activities like sports and band are thrown in the mix it involves a lot of work for the students. All this work isn’t for everyone but some students learned just the right skills to manage it all.

Karlyn Larson, freshman is running cross country for Neshaminy High School which involves her staying after until 5 p.m. for after school practices and not getting home until closer to 6 p.m. In addition to her doing sports she’s currently taking all honors and managing her grades at an honor roll level. “Paying attention in class is a key skill, if you do this, homework will be a lot less challenging and taking shorter time after practice,” Larson said. When you don’t have a lot of time every second matters.

Thyra Tuttle, freshman is also managing sports and honors classes as well. “Make sure you plan everything from your homework to simply what you will wear to school, you will be a lot less stressed this way,” Tuttle said. Tuttle also went on to say that planning your week out will help meet deadlines on homework and projects, making it a lot easier.

Some students aren’t just managing sports, they have extra clubs as well like Corinne Bernatowicz, who is currently playing freshman field hockey for Neshaminy High School, she’s in student council, Future Business Leaders of America and outside of school she’s playing soccer and dances at a studio. Being
involved with so much definitely wears a student down, but Bernatowicz presented a positive outlook on everything.

“I feel being involved and well-rounded is really important for having a successful future, and it teaches me key skills I won’t learn any other way,” Bernatowicz said.

A struggle some students have in which Bernatowicz brought up, is how to take priority, whether it be doing homework or for example going to the soccer game. “Prioritizing is a big step on how to balance everything, even if that means you have to pull back from one club because you’re not doing as well in a school subject,” said Jennifer Coe.

A key part of being able to balance everything is being able to say no. Although playing sports isn’t all stressful; playing sports often teaches key leadership skills. These leadership skills help develop initiative to get work done on time and the right way. “Doing sports isn’t just about how you have to deal with it, it’s also about having fun, making new friends and doing something I love every day,” Tuttle said.
All this work to try to balance school, homework and after school activities pays off however. Balancing everything isn’t for everyone but with a lot of work and knowing some key strategies it can be a lot easier.