Freshman students at Independence High School tend to have similar and different views of their first year of high school so far. Many students are taking different types of classes and some participate in extracurricular activities after school. Honors students, students in regular courses, and student-athletes normally spend their day-to-day differently because of their distinct schedules.
To start off, honors students and students in regular courses spend a similar amount of time doing after-school work. Although honors students have heavier and more challenging classes, many people would expect them to spend most of their time doing homework after school. However, this is not always the case. For example, freshman Isabela Rios tends to spend one hour doing her homework each time she gets assigned some, and honors freshman Omar Perez states the max amount of time he spends doing homework is around an hour and 30 minutes.
“When I do get homework, I tend to take an hour to study and go over what I don’t know,” states Rios.
One key difference between the two is that honors students tend to experience higher stress levels than students in regular courses on a normal week of school. For instance, student-athlete freshman Mayleen Frescas describes her work as easy and fast, so she doesn’t stress out as much. On the other hand, honors freshman Perez mentions how his classes can become confusing at some points.
He states, “Difficult at times. Some classes have more work than usual, so it’s hard to keep up.”
Extracurriculars like sports also play a huge role in students’ afternoons. Freshman students who are enrolled in a school sport show to have a more social life outside of school because they get to spend time with their teammates. Student-athlete and honors freshman Idalis Marquez commented that she thinks she has a stable social life because she has enough time to socialize with her soccer teammates.
Freshman Frescas notes, “For me, it’s just really fun, because you get to socialize with new people, meet new friends, so it’s fun,”
In contrast to this, student-athletes demonstrate that they get tired more easily and they sometimes get less rest on many occasions. For example, it also affects how much homework students complete after school and how much energy they have for school the next day after practice.
“So basically, I get tired easily, sometimes I don’t want to come to school because I am tired the next day after practice, and sometimes I don’t want to go to practice,” commented student-athlete freshman Marquez.
Overall, High School is very different for all students. Everyone tends to take different paths in order to reach the same goal which is to succeed.
Mariam Al-Sultani • Mar 3, 2026 at 9:10 am
Its very interesting on how people playing more sports in high school helps people make new friends.
Kim H • Mar 3, 2026 at 8:40 am
After I read this, I felt similar with the students that are trying to achieve their success in high school. I didn’t take too many athletic classes in my sophomore and junior year so I can’t actually know how hard it is to be prominent for study and sport. For me, it will be really fun if you have a lot of experience in your high school journey.
Jennifer Villalba Gutierrez • Mar 3, 2026 at 8:36 am
Great job! You clearly showed the similarities and differences between honors students, regular students, and student-athletes. The quotes made your writing more engaging and realistic. Keep up the good work!
Savannah Espinoza • Mar 3, 2026 at 7:33 am
I found it really interesting that students in honors classes have to work slightly harder towards the goals that they want to succeed in. It’s interesting to read about how everyone has different perspectives on work and sports. It’s nice to see how they are all taking their own paths.
Mia Chavez Partida • Mar 2, 2026 at 5:33 pm
Great article ! I found it so interesting how students balance their school work and their extracurricular . I found it very relatable .
Justine Pineda • Feb 26, 2026 at 10:42 am
I always thought everyone’s days were all the same but after I saw this and read it I saw that student’s that are in sports or honors have to work way harder to past their goal that they want to be successful In.
Jalissa Mora • Feb 26, 2026 at 10:40 am
It’s interesting to see the differences of student athletes, honor students, and regular course students. It’s also really interesting to see everyone’s different paths and their goals.
Ailany Rios • Feb 26, 2026 at 10:40 am
great job covering this topic. I think it is really interesting learning about how different but similar people can be , especially when it comes to the classes or clubs they take ,to the way that people do schoolwork in general.
Jordan Bell • Feb 26, 2026 at 10:39 am
WOW! This is interesting! Shout out to all the Indy freshmen!
Isabela Rios Jimenez • Feb 26, 2026 at 10:35 am
It’s refreshing to know that many students tend to care about their grades. As students worry it makes people realize that students do genuinely care about their grades and how they can affect them; this is really impactful.
Alanah Lopez • Feb 26, 2026 at 9:38 am
I never realized how different every student’s days are. It’s interesting how everyone has their own goals and takes different paths to get to those goals.