At Annandale High School, students are fortunate enough to be offered many different paths of education. A more rigorous and ultimately rewarding path is that of the IB Diploma. Students have the option of taking IB classes (International Baccalaureate) which are college level courses one can take in high school for a GPA boost, an attractive course on their transcript and the much coveted college credit.

Also offered is the Advanced Diploma, which a student can get when they perform at a higher level than standard. Students may choose to take IB classes, but not partake in the full IB Diploma.

Regardless of where they stand with their class schedule, students at Annandale are very active in all sorts of extracurricular activities and sports. Throughout the school year, teachers expect their students to come to class, take notes, do homework and receive good grades. But do teachers fully understand how much pressure and stress is put on their students?

With the amount of work given to students in each of their classes, combined with extracurriculars and whatever else they occupy their time with, it can be hard for them to keep up their good work habits and stay organized. Especially for those taking IB courses, there may be little to no time for procrastination.

Despite the fact that some students may complain about their excessive amount of schoolwork, teachers do seem to worry about how much stress their students are under.

“We talk about this as teachers, how our workload impacts our students and the stress level you guys face. This is a conversation your teachers have,” IB Anthropology teacher Lindsay Zurawski said, who also is the coordinator of CAS, a mandatory project for IB Diploma students that encourages them to reach out in their community and express themselves creatively.

“It’s something we’re aware of and it’s something we try to be aware of when we assign you guys work in class,” Zurawski said.

The work of a full schedule with honors or IB combined with various extracurriculars often leads to conflicts of time.

“[My workload] affects how I manage my time,” sophomore class

president Saad Farooq said. Time management is a very important skill for active students in Annandale, but sometimes, the virtue isn’t enough. The work eventually impedes on the students’ ability to get enough sleep. A full nights sleep is gradually becoming a commodity among teenagers.

“On good school nights, which seems to be quite rare nowadays, [I get] around six to eight hours. On nights when there’s a heavy workload, somewhere between three and five,” junior IB Diploma candidate Kim Mai said.

School gets out at 2 p.m. If you do sports or clubs at AHS, however, you almost never get to leave at that time. Most athletes find themselves starting homework at night, and when homework turns out to take many hours, they have to delay their sleep greatly.

“Sometimes I have to stay up later doing homework because I’ll get home from practice late,” sophomore track star Emily Pope said. “Usually, I end up going to bed around 12.”

Although things like sports and clubs often force students to start their schoolwork later, there is a component of exercise and social interaction after school that actually relieves some of that stress. If a student goes home at 2:00 and they are inundated with homework, they often end up procrastinating because they are stressed, or because they think they have more time than they really do.

“I don’t think most students know how to deal with stress,” Track Coach and teacher Phil Harris. “I think most of them need a sport to take the pressure off of that stress. That’s one reason sports can help you. I think that relieves you, I think every kid needs something to do right after school. When you get home you have a fresh body, a fresh mind, but I think if you just ponder, ponder and no break in between, I think that’s when you stress out.”

To some degree it seems that students can cause their own stress. Allowing all of the work to get to you can make you think you are capable of less than you really are. Extracurriculars are not for everyone, they do push your workload often to the limit, past the limit, but that’s when you discover who you really are and what you can handle.

So the verdict? Yes, oftentimes students get way too much work, but it’s important to understand the teachers aren’t trying to ruin your grades or your future. They are there to help you, and all you have to do is be there to receive the help. There’s no harm in pursuing whatever extracurricular activities catch your eye, as long as at the end of the day, you are ready to honor your commitments. Make the most out of your high school career!