Starting off the school year there’s always two thoughts running through students’ heads; “who am I going to hang out with during the day,” and “how much homework are my teachers going to give me?” Balancing social and academic life is something everyone has to deal with, especially at the beginning of the school year.

Freshmen typically are terrified of losing their friends and harder classes coming into High School. Balancing social and academic life is different for everyone; however, Freshman Ava Spectre came forward about her opinion. Ava believes “setting small, specific goals” is the most important step in a happy balanced high school experience. “Setting small goals can help keep you focused in school, but you can also socialize while doing it. Setting a goal helps me to remind myself that I have to follow through with it, so that way my goals are always on my mind and I never forget to finish them.” Oftentimes, when someone focuses primarily on academics, anything less than A’s can feel like a failure. By setting small and specific goals, it keeps you on track to achieving your goals rather than giving up after you put in everything you had. 

Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors have to worry about AP classes, sports, jobs, friends, and their family life. Sometimes this gets a little overwhelming. Junior at GCHS Giselle Mae Abellana believes that “being efficient with school work” is the most important aspect of balancing both academics and social life. “

A lot of the time, people feel the need to find a connection with themselves through after school activities. At Grant, specifically, involving oneself in sports is one of the main outlets of connecting with themselves. Playing sports can help build self-esteem and a sense of community. Along with this newly developed sense of community is a sense of self. Gaining that sense of self leads to an increased result in better social interactions, stronger relationships, and higher academic performance.

Playing sports can also be an obstacle in balancing social and academic life. Tori Speciale, Sophomore girls basketball player for GCHS, likes to “focus on the here and now” to keep herself happy and balanced. “Focusing on here and now is a good benefit because you are not focusing on the future and what happened in the past, instead you are putting yourself in now to help better yourself for the future and to not stress about things that may happen.” Focusing now on her sport and her team instead of focusing only on being in the WNBA helps make more time for school work, friends, family, and her relationship. 

Successfully reaching each of these steps can fill a person with dopamine, which is the hormone responsible for allowing that person to feel pleasure, satisfaction, and motivation. Although balancing academics, sports, and relationships may be a time consuming and tedious process, taking the necessary steps towards this achievement can lead to extremely rewarding results.