A typical high school student might have two AP classes, participate in multiple sports and clubs, and feel pressure to take part in all of these activities. This raises the concern for how to balance challenging classes along with pursuing other passions and having time to focus on their well being.
How can students do it all?
Students often look to the guidance counselors for support with finding the right balance in their schedules.
Joey Larsen, a guidance counselor at PLHS, works with students on their schedules and notices that many tend to take on more than they can handle. If left unaddressed, this can lead to negative outcomes.
“If a student takes a heavier load than they’re able to handle at that point, we see a lot of different things from social isolation and cutting themselves off from friends,” Mr. Larsen said. “Sometimes, kids will sort of go into complete avoidance in general, and we’ll see that they might stop coming to school regularly.”
Prior Lake High School offers a variety of options for AP and honors classes. Students often choose to enroll in these classes because it looks good on transcripts and saves money by earning college credits. Many students take advantage of the opportunities to take these more difficult classes, which puts pressure on their peers to follow suit.
While colleges like to see students taking difficult courses, they also expect students to maintain a certain level of success in whatever classes they choose.
“Colleges want to see you challenging yourself if you’re capable of doing it, but they want you to be successful in the levels of classes that you are in,” Mr. Larsen said.
Another thing to consider is making sure you are interested in a class if you’re going to take the advanced version.
“Some of it is based on your interest level. Even if you’re a really good social studies student, if you don’t have an interest in world history, AP World History might not be the best fit for you,” Mr. Larsen said.
Mr. Larsen also described things that colleges look at besides academics.
“Colleges are taking a much closer look at what students are doing outside of the classroom now than just how they’re doing with their classes. Not only is it important with the college aspect of it but also the development for you as a student, a young adult.”
Academics are only part of what makes up who a student is, and colleges are interested in the whole person. If taking a regular class allows someone to have the time to pursue a sport, job, or other interest, it is okay to choose the activity that reflects more of who they are.
High school students tend to overload their schedules, which leads to burnout and having to adjust course loads.
“Once we get to the burnout phase, if we can make a slight adjustment and just get a little bit of positive movement, it’s enough to create the snowball effect in the other direction where it’s building on a positive rolling,” Mr. Larsen said
There’s a really fine line for student workloads. Once they pass that line, adjustments in schedules or activities are often made.
Mr. Larsen also emphasized the importance of using values to guide decision making.
“You have to look at who you are, who you want to be, what drives you, and have that be what overall helps you balance. Not only is that where you’re going to be your best self, but you’re going to find the most success in everything that you’re doing. Colleges are looking for that too.”
Mr. Larsen also shared some resources available for students to get help finding this balance. At Prior Lake High School, students have access to student tutors, tutors in the community, counselors, social workers, and more.
There’s no single definition of success, and balance looks different for everyone.
“At the end of the day, you don’t get your high school experience back. Any decision that you’re making, make sure you’re also coming back to what you want your high school experience to look like and what’s important to you, and that’s going to look different for every kid,” Mr. Larsen said.
