Throughout the year students try to balance schoolwork with activities and manage their time. Students and adults have specific strategies for what students should do to manage time.

            Some students participate in many activities while others do not; some get stressed out. This is not the case for sophomore James Elias. Elias participates in jazz, debate, forensics, congress, model UN, volunteer work and band. Despite all the work, Elias says that he very rarely gets stressed out.

            “Balance yourself between homework and extracurricular activities, and don’t procrastinate. I’ve lost sleep many times just because I didn’t manage my time well,” Elias said.

Guidance counselor Jeff Doubek said usually students do not manage their time for three reasons.

“[Students] may have never learned how to manage time, they may be a procrastinator by nature or they just may be simply overwhelmed,” said Doubek.

Doubek said that Rufus King might be a rude awakening for some students because they may not be used to the amount of work they get. He also said that this might be what some students experience in college.

He said that students should stay ahead of the game.

“If you get done with your homework, then start on other work that you know you will have. Students have a syllabus for every class so they know what’s next,” Doubek said.

Full diploma juniors agreed with Elias and Doubek.

“Never procrastinate, [school] just gets harder and harder,” full diploma junior Shaherer Khan said.

            Full diploma junior Alyssa Reum said that all students have to do is their work and prioritize.

            “Just do your work, and it will be easy. You also need to prioritize. Do first hour work first, and do second hour work next, and so on. [Full diploma students] told us to never procrastinate, and we do it anyways,” she said.

            Junior Osbalda Martinez says that procrastination is the main problem.

            “Just don’t procrastinate, and you will be just fine,” he said.

            Full diploma senior Aleea Walker said that prioritizing and being flexible is key.

            “Start on long term assignments than waiting until the last minute. If you have a big paper that’s due a while from now, then do that paper first and don’t push it off until the last minute,” Walker said.

            Walker also said that not staying organized is one of the worst things to do when trying to manage time.

            “Always stay organized. That’s the key to managing time,” she said.

Doubek also said that prioritizing is something students most do.

“Your classes should always come first, but you also need a social life. Some students play sports in their freshmen and sophomore year and then they go full IB and find out they have to drop something,” Doubek said.

            Doubek said that he thinks time management is something that students may have to learn on their own over their academic careers.