It seems like more than ever academics is controlling our lives. There is so much pressure to succeed and prepare for college and a career that it all but consumes our minds. But I think a line has been crossed.

I can personally testify that I have spent at least three hours on homework a night on an easy night; not to mention when I miss a day of school for being sick or going out of town. That can give me days of homework. When is there time to have a life?

I know that in high school we choose most of our classes and I personally have chosen honor classes but high school shouldn’t just be about getting into a good college or even preparing for a career; that’s what we do in college. High school is a time where we start to discover who we are as individuals; what our interest and opinions are independent from our parents.

It’s not just the teachers who control what we learn. Federal bureaucrats, who must have forgotten what it was like to be a teenager, are making ridiculous standards and all but setting us up to fail in our standardized testing. There are so many better things we could be learning in our class rooms. So many better methods of teaching are out there but it seems to me that the powers that be are stuck in an archaic time zone and are deaf to anything that might help us.

I don’t feel bad about asking for some down time or time to hang with friends. I have had to cancel plans or bail early from events more times than I can count. I have accomplished great grades on a rigorous course schedule but at what price? Sometimes my friends and I even have days where we hang out and all we do is do homework.

I’m not trying to bash our teachers or administration – they are doing the best they can with what they are given – and maybe it’s just a cranky teenager running on an average of five hours of sleep, but I’m still trying to discover myself and hours upon hours of homework is not really what I think life should be about. There is a fine line between learning more like I should in an honors class and just doing more busy work which is what I feel like I’m doing between the combinations of course work and testing work.

I’m proud of the work I’ve accomplished in high school and I love my teachers for the most part. They have sacrificed so much and I wouldn’t be where I am without them. I truly am grateful for everything that this school has to offer but I am also truly grateful for the nights I get more than five hours of sleep.