By Babiha Kaur, Digital Editor
With a month of school finished, homework is piling up and River Hill students already seem to be getting into routines that work for them.
“Without even taking off my shoes, I get on my computer and do DeltaMath,” Ishani Sinha, a freshman, shares. She hasn’t been getting too much homework, but has spent most of her time studying for tests. Although she is receiving a lot of quizzes, she doesn’t think that the amount of homework is too overwhelming—yet.
Similarly, junior Hallie Goldstein starts her homework as soon as she gets home from school. She believes that the amount of work she has is reasonable and expected, and tries to get everything done as soon as possible, stating, “there’s not much time to procrastinate.”
Procrastination is a big problem that students generally try to avoid. Because she tries to steer away from doing her homework late at night, junior Mira Karpati is able to complete everything on time. She exclaims, “Procrastination is something that I have not done since elementary school, and I’m very proud about that.”
However, with homework comes distractions. Sophomore Julia Zhang does not think that she has good time management skills, and when asked how she thinks she could manage her time better, she would “lock [her] phone up in a suitcase.” Julia believes that her main distraction from homework is being on her phone, which takes up a lot of her time.
Generally speaking, finishing work on time doesn’t seem to be that big of a problem among River Hill students. Sophomore Anjali Gangalam uses an agenda to make sure that she does not forget to do any of her work. She remarks, “I’m making agendas and improving [time] management skills. Of course, there’s still some procrastination, but I’m trying to get better.”
However, some students believe that they have been receiving excessive amounts of work that is hard to manage. Junior Becca Lavner believes that the amount of work she has been getting is “too much,” and therefore also uses a schedule. She expresses, “Throughout the day I’ll write down everything I get from teachers as well as how much SAT prep to do.”
Homework isn’t the only thing that students are expected to do after school. Students have the option to participate in other activities and extracurriculars. Junior Aubrey Heiges is part of Poms and the cross country team. Although she enjoys these activities, they do take time away from studying. She shares, “Most days I can’t really start my homework until 8 or 9.”
For some students, being in extracurricular activities actually helps them complete their homework. Senior Jenny Liu is part of stage crew, which builds and paints sets for the school’s theatrical productions. She comments, “When I’m in stage crew, I have all my friends, and they’re very encouraging and they give me motivation to do [my homework].”
There are many solutions to completing homework on time, and working with friends seems to be an effective way to do so. Anjali states, “It’s always fun to collaborate with friends on homework. It definitely is more efficient, and makes the process easier.”
Although homework is often disliked, it does help students stay on top of their studies. Mira reflects, “I just do the work. I get it over with. I do it, I do it to my best extent, [and] I don’t stress over it. I do strive for perfection, but if I don’t understand something, I accept that I don’t understand it and I will try.”
Students care about doing their work and trying their best to achieve their goals at all times. From procrastination to doing work as soon as they get home, somehow, everything gets done.
The most important thing about school is for students to learn while having fun. “I make time for everything. It’s all about balance,” Hallie concludes.