Hurdles to School Success

Audrey Graham

Freshman Goldie Kitchell stresses over an abudance of homework.

Some students tend to just come up with excuses, ‘I’ll do it later.’ Another common issue for students is extracurriculars.

“While I like to keep myself busy, basketball can often get in the way of trying to get all of my homework done on time,” freshman Goldie Kitchell said. “Playing sports comes with a lot of long nights that make it difficult to study efficiently and complete my work thoroughly whilst getting a healthy amount of sleep.” 

For some, the overload of work can be very difficult and almost intimidating. 

“I get assigned a bunch of stuff that I have to complete in a short amount of time so sometimes I stress too much about doing it instead of actually getting it done,” freshman Sydney Vo said. “Then, before I know it, it’ll be 11 at night and I’ll be too tired to do it, so I’ll just take the zero or turn it in late.”

While some teachers get fed up with this, others understand. 

“My feelings toward students who find excuses do not change,” English teacher Tamara Minks said. “

Getting work done is still very important. Logansport High School has different programs set up to keep students on track. 

“When students are late with assignments, they have to come to office hours,” Minks said. “They don’t like to lose that free time, so it is a motivator.”

Fast Friday and office hours are just two methods of motivation that the school has given us.  Whenever people convince themselves to dread something, finding the motivation for getting it completed becomes so much harder. Other students, like senior Halle VanCuren, and sophomore Madison Zimmerer, have come up with their own ways of staying on track. 

“To avoid missing or late work, I like to keep a planner with space to put daily homework assignments and keep track of events throughout the month,” VanCuren said. “Each year, I get a new planner that I use to stay organized and ahead of things. I’ve also seen some people use Google Keep or a sticky notes app to remind themselves of their upcoming due dates, but personally, I find a planner easier to use. It also helps to finish assignments as soon as possible because you never know what might get in the way when you reach the due date, and it’s harder to keep up when missing assignments start piling up.” 

Planners are a good tool for everyone, especially for people who get busy with other things like a job or sports. Even if a person doesn’t mind doing the work, everyone forgets sometimes. 

“The next thing I do is always prioritize based on the due date,” Zimmerer said. “That probably seems like a given, but it’s important. If I have a quiz tomorrow, and an assignment due in three days, I’d study for the quiz first. So, if I run out of time that day, I still have two days to do that other assignment, and I’ll do good on the quiz that I studied for.”