Between school, taking extra classes, working, sports, and other extracurricular activities, high school students have to manage their time in order to stay organized. Many students at Gunnison High School must learn how to manage their time and all do it in different ways. Their lives aren’t all in the walls of the school, so when they leave, they’re real life begins.
Every student is different and handles stress in different ways. Either way, students are constantly having to make decisions between school and their personal lives. A survey was sent out to all of the students at Gunnison High School (GHS) that helped collect information on how students are managing their responsibilities and what activities take up their time. The majority of students who answered were Freshmen just coming into high school and learning new skills to stay organized. The responses showed that a majority of the 65 students who answered don’t work during the school year, but play sports instead.
Students were asked how much time they spend on homework each night and the most common answer was that it depends on the night. Some kids said they do their homework at school so they have time to do other things after school.
Some students have more to manage outside of school than most kids. An example of a GHS student who has a lot on her plate is Junior, Dakota Redden. During school hours, Redden takes three college level classes, two of which are medical classes, and four high school classes. After school during the fall, she either drives the half hour drive to Crested Butte in order to play soccer on their girls team, works at the local steakhouse; Ol Miner, or goes home to care for her younger brother and ranch animals. In between all of her busy activities, Redden makes sure to get her classwork done by focusing on two or three classes to catch up on every night. Most nights, she stays up later than her parents, putting all of her effort into schoolwork. While being this busy, Redden doesn’t have a lot of free time, so hanging out with friends isn’t very common for her. She may be busy and stressed out, but she doesn’t let that stop her from having a good time when she can.
Sports play an important part of the GHS culture. Hunter Vincent, a Senior, comes from a family of athletes who played sports at GHS. Vincent plays football, basketball, and baseball, making him a three-sport athlete.
“Hunter is a strong leader who is vocal and fun to be around.” When asked what kind of teammate Vincent is, Christian Aguilar, a teacher and Head Coach for the Boy’s Basketball Program said.
In between sports, Vincent doesn’t have a lot of time to do schoolwork. During basketball season, he struggles to stay caught up in classes because of the busy game schedule and says that math was the class he struggled the most in staying caught up in. Although he is a very busy student-athlete, Hunter Vincent makes sure he has time to hang out with family and friends.
As kids grow older, they start to work to earn money for multiple reasons. Some kids work during the school year and manage to stay caught up in school. Noah Pederson, a Senior at GHS, is a great example of a student who works during the school year. Pederson is employed at Dos Rios Golf Course and works 40 hours a week. Keeping up in school isn’t a problem for Pederson because he earned his credits in his years prior so he only has a few classes this year. As basketball season creeps around the corner, his work schedule will shorten in order to make time for his Senior season. Even though he doesn’t have as many classes as other students, Pederson puts a lot of work into his job as a high school student.
The last question on the form asked the students to share how they manage their time after school. The responses showed that some students don’t have a steady way to stay on task while others have a process that works for them and that they like.
