Friends vs Sleep vs Grades

– One of the biggest hurdles that students face is being able to juggle good grades, a social life, and get a healthy amount of sleep.

Friends. Sleep. Grades. In this day and age, it seems that you can only have two of the three. Three choices don’t seem like that big of a deal – it should be an easy thing to decide. However, when it comes down to it, it’s really not all that easy of a choice. Friends are a necessity if you want to have a social life and if you don’t want to be a worn out zombie during the day, then choosing sleep would be an immediate choice. Then again, there are grades to think about – and how your teachers, parents and even friends are always talking about how vitally important good grades are if you want to have a future.

Again, you can only have two. The choice is stressful enough just thinking about it, and there are consequences that come with each choice, regardless of which two you pick.

Students that choose to devote their time to studying and getting a good nights sleep have  a better shot at good grades and can feel a lot better during the day. However they may have to suffer spending less time with their friends, going out, and doing things rather than work.

“I choose grades and sleep,” sophomore Gabby Alverez said. “I have no social life, but I get good grades and look good while doing it.”

On the other hand – and the much more common occurrence in high school – students will choose to spend time on homework, managing to keep up with their school work, but will spend the rest of their free time with friends, rather than sleeping or studying more. The result is going to bed at late hours, or sometimes not at all. Not sleeping is probably the least healthy decision, but sleeping can be the easiest thing to give up during the week.

“I can live without sleep, that’s why they make coffee.” junior Kaitlyn Kocsis said. “Grades are important because you have to keep up your academic abilities and stay focused, and friends are something that you just need to have.”

The last possible choice that can be made is to choose friends and sleep over grades. Students can have fun and enjoy their free time how they please, while also getting a healthy amount of sleep so that they don’t feel like a sluggish sloth that falls asleep during class – but this can sometimes come with the price of having not so stellar academic performance and poor test grades.

“Grades don’t make you feel as good about yourself as getting a good night’s sleep or having people that love you,” university sophomore Kirsten Childers said. “Grades are nice to have, but they can’t replace a good friend.”

As the year progresses, homework piles up, new friends are made, there are more events to go to, and no matter how long you sleep, it never feels like it’s enough.The situation seems pretty bleak, but students are still hopeful that you can have a good social life, good grades and still get enough sleep.

“You just have to plan out your studying ahead and you have to confine your friends to the weekends,” Kocis said. “Just make a plan a week ahead and manage your time.”

Time management is the most effective way to make achieving a balanced life more attainable. Make time for studying. Get at least eight to nine hours of sleep a night. Make time for your friends on the weekends or on less hectic days after school.

Having a healthy, balanced life will make high school life a lot easier – the only real challenge is to have enough motivation and to put effort into time management skills to make it possible.