Haley Brantley’s freshman year. A year for meeting new people. A year for creating friendships. A year for defining what she stands for. A year for deciding who she wants to become. A year to figure out how to manage her time so everything she desires to accomplish can be done.

“I always like to put 100 percent effort into things. My mom always tells me ‘Don’t ever do things half-souled.’ So I always give everything my all,” Brantley said.

Now a sophomore, Brantley doesn’t regret her choice to enroll in all Pre-AP and AP courses during her freshman year. She also still participates in the All Girls’ Choir, leaving her little time for other personal interests like working out. Sometimes she will even stay up all night to complete homework.

High school students deal with stress in their lives stemming from a lack of time management skills needed.

“To have better time management, just get organized. Get a calendar, a planner, color code, whatever works for you. And it stinks, but turn off the T.V. and get your work done before you do anything else,” sophomore English teacher Lisbeth Bennett said.

A member of the wind ensemble in marching band, sophomore Steven Moreno has the critical time management skills needed for success. He must maintain passing grades or he isn’t allowed to play at games or UIL events, so he completes his work no matter the circumstance.

“It’s not easy, but if I want to get it all done and maintain a social life, I really have to pay attention in class. Band is my motivation,” Moreno said.

Senior Kellie Martin competes on the girls’ varsity golf team. Just like other sports teams, athletes must maintain passing grades in order to participate in tournaments. The coaches expect the girls’ varsity team to be role models for the junior varsity players and makes the girls run extra laps if they score below 75 percent in a class.

“The coaches push us which puts the pressure on me even more to make good grades,” Martin said. “It’s hard with after school practice to finish work sometimes, but I just have to manage my time and not goof off in class when teachers give us time to work on homework.”