There are several activities to do at LHS, but while many prefer to balance, some students end up prioritizing one over the other. Regarding what is most important to students, some believe that their grades and GPAs are more important than their extracurricular activities.
A freshman student in the Honors courses finds importance in after-school activities and extracurriculars even if she doesn’t participate in them.
“For me, grades are more important,” freshman Gladys Matias said. “I hope to accomplish a stable understanding of all of my classes and add on to the knowledge I already have. I do hope to get scholarships from the hard work that I have put in to keep my grades high and my dedication to learning.”
Some students think people who do both extracurricular activities and take hard courses have to find a way to get work done and sleep enough hours every day.
“It can be hard to keep balance sometimes,” freshman Alexa Lopez said. “Especially when there’s a game from six to eight, but also homework due at 11:59, all while trying to sleep early. I manage my time by trying to finish work during class so I don’t have homework, or at least not as much.”
When students have too much to do, it becomes a stressful situation. Having to calculate exactly what to do and when it has to be done can be overwhelming.
“For some people, it is hard to balance both because it varies daily,” Matias said. “Sometimes, you can get piles of homework and lose time because of extracurricular activities, making it hard to balance. You could also do extra work in extracurricular activities, adding onto the piles of work you may have already.”
A younger student from the LJHS is already focused on her path. She believes that grades can determine the path your life takes, especially outside of school.
“Grades are most important for me because I know it will affect a lot of things in the future,” eighth-grade Princess Bandada said. “Whether you have good or bad grades will most likely affect your job opportunities. Getting better grades will help my future.”
Another freshman also believes grades are more eminent than activities. She primarily believes this because she has to in order to do what she really wants both in school and in the real world.
“The most important thing to me is my grades,” Lopez said. “They’re more important to me because if I don’t have good grades, I’m not allowed to be in sports, which is why I maintain good grades. I also like having good grades so I can have good opportunities in my future.”
