When I was little, my days consisted of coming home from school, doing what little homework I had and then doing something fun with my parents or friends.

  My family had weekly movie nights but as I grew up there was no more time for our traditions.

  The minuscule time it once took to do my homework turned into multiple hours and so the time I spent with my family during weekdays became less and less.

  My soccer schedule when I was little was manageable: three days of practice and a game (or occasionally two) on the weekend with a tournament here and there.

  Now my schedule is overbearing, as it consists of four days of practice and traveling to different states on the weekend for one game.

  I do all the same things–school, soccer and spend time with friends and family–but as I’ve gotten older a lot more has been squeezed into each 24 hour day.

  I go to school, rush home and start on homework, go to the gym for an hour, do more homework and then go to soccer practice for three more hours.  I end up getting home at 9:30 then finish my homework until one or two in the morning.

  The sad thing is, my schedule isn’t a rarity; a lot of high school students have very similar timelines between school, sports and friends.

  The standard at Granite Bay High School is to take as many Advanced Placement classes as possible, play one or more sports, go to all the social events and still find time for your friends and family.  

  There are simply not enough hours in the day to possibly fit everything in, yet we all still find a way to do it.

  While “thriving” on four hours of sleep or pulling all-nighters, I make sure I complete all my homework, go to all my trainings and socialize with my friends.

  My schedule from when I was little has changed a lot in the number of things I try to fit into each day.

  Kids are over-scheduled trying to fit into the norm of society nowadays and it unhealthy for them.

  Giving up their sleep because they had to go to their practice and complete their six hours of homework and study for a big test on top of that only wears oneself out.

  That is just one day in an overly busy week, with no time for rest.

  As teenagers we need the longest amount of sleep and most of the time, especially on school nights, we are not getting that.

  According to the sleep foundation, after babies, teenagers need the most amount of sleep–an average of eight to ten hours a night.  

  It is more important to focus on your health and find time to rest and relax than going to the football game on Friday.

  It’s not the smartest idea to take four to five AP classes with six hours of homework a night when you spend a majority of your night at a sports practice.

  Take the AP classes you are interested in, not as many as possible that way you have more time to have fun while in high school.

  Only participate in the sport if you love it and if you don’t, switch to a team that doesn’t take up as much of your time.

  Have fun while you are young and don’t try to squeeze an abundance of activities into one day.  

  Only do the activities you are passionate about that way you have time to rest and aren’t over-scheduled–appreciate your life and enjoy it.