Nathan Schmidt 3: Too Much?

Too Much?

Nathan Schmidt

I know I am not the only school student who takes on a lot of responsibility, so when I list off the activities I am in, I am not doing so to brag about how much I am involved in, but rather to provide context for the rest of this post.  I am currently involved in three AP classes: psychology, English language and comp, and calculus.  So far, I have been doing very well in my classes, at least by my standards.  By far the biggest obstacle this year, though, is not the classes themselves, but the other activities I chose to do.  Now the other activities are not more difficult than my AP classes, but my involvement in them alone makes completing work for AP classes much more difficult.  The activities that I am involved in after school include debate (Mondays, 2:30-4:00), mock trial (Wednesdays, 2:30-5:00 plus competitions sprinkled in throughout the year) , the play (Mondays, Wednesdays, and some Fridays, 5:00-9:00), and the musical (who knows what the schedule for that will look like but it will be much more extensive than the play schedule).  I also have vocal lessons after school on Fridays but that is not involved with the school.  I should point out that the play has ended recently and debate will be over after this coming Thursday, the 12th of December.  Mock trial has just started up and the musical will be kicking up shortly.  And while semester two gets nearer, I get to look forward to picking up honors anatomy as an extra challenge.  I will also be met with comments from my parents who say that I should drop anatomy.  My answer has remained consistent despite their numerous attempts, "no."

Am I taking on too much, though?  That is what I continue to ask myself.  I know that I will be able to handle it but will the work be worth it.  I will have to do homework before 5:00 on days that I have musical rehearsals to avoid staying up super late.  Today was the day that I was going to prove to myself that I could do it.  I was going to come home and finish all of my homework before 5:00.  It is 6:54 p.m. right now so you can probably tell that that did not go as planned.  Instead, I got home and slept on my couch for a few hours before waking up feeling like absolute garbage, which tends to happen when I take naps.  So maybe I am taking on a little more than I should.  Why do I, though?  Well for starters, I do the activities that I do because I enjoy them, but I think that there is another reason as well.  When I was in eighth grade, I hated history class.  It was my hardest class and my lowest grade.  At the end of the school year, though, I looked back and said, "what an incredible challenge.  That was my favorite class!"  Perhaps this is no different.  Hopefully, I will look back on my high school experience and say, "I really killed it in high school!"  I am completely aware that my grades could be higher if I didn't do theatre, mock trial, or debate.  But if it makes me happier, then I am certainly willing to suffer the small grade drop.  I would not have always said this.  For many years I had put grades on top of the list, more important than any other aspect in my life.  I have since changed that view.  I am not going to look back on high school as the years that my life was sacrificed for high grades.  I am going to enjoy my high school years, I will only get this experience once.