Dear School System,

I am beyond blessed to live in an area with such a great school system. I am always challenged in class, and I feel motivated to reach for a level of excellence. Unfortunately, such high standard create extremely high expectation; at times, they feel impossible to live up to. I can't speak for everyone, but I do know that I'm not the only one who feels this way.

What has finally motivated me to talk about this is the fact that midterms are right around the corner. For me, junior year has been the toughest year of high school so far. This may be partly due to the fact that I'm in two AP classes and I participate in theater all year. While it was my choice to take AP classes and to do theater every second outside of school, it's the expectations that annoy me. I have been told since freshman year that I need to get involved and do extracurricular activities in order to get into a good college and succeed in life.

That's a great idea and all, but the school system makes that nearly impossible due to the amount of homework we are given. Like seriously, how am I supposed to participate in clubs, sports, band, theater, etc. as well as complete roughly thirty minutes to an hour (sometimes it's way more than that) worth of homework PER CLASS when we get out of school at 3:40?

It's very taxing on teenagers to attempt to do all of this. I know from personal experience as well as friends' experiences that the first thing people usually sacrifice is sleep. For me, failure is not acceptable in my classes or any outside activity, so if I don't get to go to bed before 11:30 PM or midnight, that's just what happens. Without sleep, we cannot function properly, but as long as we get all our homework done, it's perfectly fine to lose sleep.

I've have heard teachers ask students, "Why are you sleeping in class? You need to get to bed earlier." One small problem: if I don't stay up to do the homework I was assigned, I'll get a bad grade, which as a result will still end with the teacher yelling at me. Do you see the problem? Either way, the student loses because we are given too much to do in too little time. Something's gotta give.

I hope that one day students don't have to be as stressed and overwhelmed as they are today. For now, please just appreciate and be aware that most of us students are trying our best to succeed and balance everything under the nearly impossible standards you hold us to.

Sincerely,

Just Another Stressed Student