How Busy Is Too Busy?

In high schools across the country, students are being encouraged to load up class schedules with time-consuming honors or Advanced Placement classes. They are also encouraged to hop into as many activities as possible because colleges will soon be looking at activity sheets and transcripts. To stand out among the 50,000 applicants applying to college each year, many teens try to look as active as possible while still keeping their grades up, which is not an easy task.

After the final school bell, there are sports practices that can go on for several hours each night. And then there are clubs that meet after school weekly, which sometimes require extra work outside of school. And then there are SAT/ACT prep classes. And then there are the other activities, like volunteering to fulfill class and club requirements. And even after that some teens take on part time jobs.

Recently, competition for college acceptance has skyrocketed. This may have caused an increase in overscheduled teenagers trying to impress their top-choice schools. In order to keep up with busy schedules and time-consuming courses, some students must stay up late into the night.

Senior Joanna Wu is one of those students. She participates in music activities, athletic activities, National Honor Society, Spanish National Honor Society, and honors and AP classes. Wu pulls this off with ease, or so it seems. She has always had a busy schedule, but she emphasizes that she’s not just doing it for colleges. “It could be good for colleges, but that’s not the main purpose,” Wu says. She enjoys every activity that she participates in.

Wu puts a huge amount of effort into maintaining her schedule, and she gets around three to five hours of sleep at night. On some nights, it’s even less. This is less than half of the nine hours and fifteen minutes that the National Sleep Foundation recommends.

She says that being busy is just a part of who she is. “Sometimes I feel like I’m supposed to be busy, but other times I feel like I might be doing too much,” Wu says. She doesn’t necessarily like or dislike being busy, saying “I guess I’m just good at managing my time.”

Even underclassmen are feeling the pressure. Junior Michelle Dallalah is another involved student. She’s running from Key Club, to Spanish Club, to drivers’ education, to Holy Cross Church Confirmation classes, and then to hours of volleyball open gyms and preseason workouts, all while keeping up with advanced classes. Like Wu, Dallalah feels like she is meant to be busy. She enjoys all of the activities that she does, even though her parents sometimes warn her about overscheduling.

“There are some things that I definitely do for college, but I pick the clubs because I love them,” Dallalah says.

Sophomore Erik Davis has packed his schedule, too. He stays after school every day for clubs and practices, takes honors and AP courses, and plays golf and tennis several times each week. But unlike Dallalah and Wu, Davis doesn’t push his bedtime back.

“I’ve learned that I really can’t do well if I don’t get a lot of sleep,” Davis says. He says that he aims for around eight hours of sleep each night.

Davis takes a laid back approach to his busy schedule. He doesn’t pressure himself to be busy at all. Davis does note that success is a good goal to have, and if being busy is what it takes to be successful, then he’ll do it. According to what Davis has heard, teens have to start being busy sometime so that students can be prepared for a college-level workload someday.

Of course, being busy gives some students a positive reputation. A filled schedule makes teenagers look committed and responsible to peers, teachers and potential colleges. Many students are out to make themselves look good by joining any and all activities. Some people take on new responsibilities without quitting any of their previous activities, and then start to wonder if it’s worth it. This becomes a problem when students join clubs but never attend meetings.

With sports, advanced classes, and clubs, it’s difficult to find time to relax. It feels like teenagers are always occupied, with barely any free time to enjoy being teenagers. But is the sacrifice worth it?

One social studies teacher, Donna Oppedisano, opposes the idea that overscheduling is beneficial to students. Mrs. Oppedisano believes that there is a higher percentage of extremely busy students than when she began teaching, which concerns her.

“I think that there are a fair number of students who are overscheduled,” Mrs. Oppedisano says. “That worries me.”

Mrs. Oppedisano has noticed the effects of packed schedules among the students that she sees on a daily basis. She believes that the key to balancing schedules is to allow for some free time. “I want kids to have some restful relaxation time at least once a day,” says Mrs. Oppedisano. “I think there are kids that don’t [spend time relaxing].”

Mrs. Oppedisano understands that some students may become busy because they truly enjoy the activities that they do. “I think that people who are overscheduled do get enjoyment, but frantic, high-stress, high-engagement enjoyment.” She stresses that she would rather see these teens get some low-engagement opportunities to enjoy themselves, through activities such as running, talking on the phone, or watching television.

Among college admissions chaos and stressful amounts of activities, teenagers have to take a step back and look at the big picture in order to stay sane. Teenagers often discover who they are when they have the time to be teenagers. After all, that’s what high school is all about.

Mrs. Oppedisano has some final words of advice: “It’s good just to be a young person. Enjoy being a teenager, because you only get it once.”