Tomorrow you have your semester exams in IB Physics and Algebra 2, as well as a huge project due for English class. Does this scenario sound familiar? This is every student’s nightmare, and unfortunately, it is every student’s reality.

With second quarter concluding at the end of the week, many students are scrambling to find a foothold amidst the deadlines for tests, quizzes, and projects. I myself am included in this majority. Many of us have found that this added stress is not the result of poor planning on our part, but rather it is the fault of our teachers.

“Teachers should pace their assignments better and check with each other when assigning the workload,” junior Ngyuen Cao said. “They always give us big assignments all at once and it’s pretty overwhelming.”

Cao takes several honors courses and has a heavy workload. The end of the quarter is always hardest for students in honors classes because we are usually expected to complete many projects. I’m sure the teachers who assign these tasks have the best intentions at heart, but sometimes it feels impossible to complete everything. As a perfectionist, I suffer through psychological pain when I turn in something I didn’t have time to revise at least 3 times. The students in regular classes have a less cumbersome homework schedule.

While students who take the easier classes have less assignments, people in honors and IB classes have a disproportionate amount of work to worry about.

Second quarter is notorious for being the most stressful quarter. For one thing, it is the longest in terms of days. We also have many vacations and breaks, so it’s hard not to feel behind on your assignments. It was tough trying to juggle my workload between Hurricane Sandy and Christmas break because no one knew when anything was due. When I saw my interim grade reports, I nearly screamed.

“The pacing can be bad sometimes, especially at the end of the quarter,” senior Ben Vest said. “There are usually a couple of weeks of constant tests, quizzes, and projects due. Usually it stresses me out when there are a lot of things due at once. I don’t think it actually affects my grades that much, just my mental health. I don’t usually get much sleep at the end of the quarter.”

It’s unfair to treat students who decide to take rigorous classes as though they have superhuman powers. I typically end up having to make the choice between studying thoroughly and getting enough sleep.

I think teachers should cooperate with each other to reduce the unnecessary stress that they put on their students. At Frost MS, students are organized into teams with a designated group of teachers. These teachers meet on a regular basis to plan their lessons and collaborate on deadline placements. This way, students don’t have the added stress of three projects being due on one day.

If teachers really wanted us to succeed, they would not make it impossible for us to manage our time. A viable solution is for teachers to work together and come up with weekly game plans that allow students to get all their work done.

I’m not saying that teachers should hold our hand as we take baby steps. By no means should advanced classes be easy. That’s the reason we take them — to challenge ourselves in the areas of our interest, and of course, to earn the extra credit. Changing the pacing does not mean lowering the level of difficulty. Teachers should make the obstacle course passable, while keeping it challenging.

So the next time you feel that your obstacle course of time management is impassable, remember that you are not alone in your frustrations. Speaking of which, I have to go study for a Physics test that I have… tomorrow.