There are only 24 hours in the day, but some Wildcats wish there were more. These students are involved in multiple extracurricular activities at once, and every day is a balancing act. They are students first, so how do they keep their school work up to date and succeed in all their activities? Here’s how they do it.
Senior Bella Porter is involved in Robotics, Academic Team, Ecology Club, Flag Club, NHS, DECA, and FCA club. Her practices fluctuate from week to week, differing in which day they meet. Bella admits that it is hard to balance everything. So, she divides her time equally between each activity so she can do them all. When asked if she will continue to do these activities in the future she replied, “I hope to continue some of them in college, including robotics/engineering, ecology club, and a club similar to FCA to stay consistent with my faith.”
Junior Landen Anderson is involved in football and soccer. His practices do interfere with each other. Landen goes to soccer practice first and then he goes to football. His coaches are very accommodating. Some advice from Landen is, “go to both [activities] and just play it,” and to be sure to “communicate with the coaches.” He stays on top of his schoolwork by doing his homework at school or whenever he can. Landen will continue to do these activities in the future.
Junior Kayla Morris is involved in cheerleading, swimming, track and field, DECA, and our TV production program (What’s Up Wildcats). When swim season comes around, she starts to get even busier. She has conflicts with cheerleading and swim as well as swimming and track. Kayla enjoys staying busy which is why she is involved with all sorts of activities. When asked if she will continue to do all these activities in the future she responded with “Yes, they all are such a big part of me!”
Junior Matthew Rudolph is involved in drama, cross country, DECA, and a cappella currently. He also does swimming in the winter. As we have seen, students who do multiple activities may have practices that interfere with each other. Matthew’s practices for drama and cross country interfere with each other. When asked about how he balances all these activities he said, “working really hard.” Matthew runs varsity for cross country and is the male lead in Mary Poppins, which both require lots of time and commitment. Some advice from Matthew is “the more you put into it the more you get out of it,” so his advice is try your best every day and stay productive.
Sophomore Lana Connelly is involved in cross country and soccer. She has her practice from 3:15 to 5 and from 5 to 6:30. Lana has to go straight from one practice to another! She balances her activities with “Practice and a good mindset.” Lana hopes to continue to run cross country throughout high school into college.
Freshman Mason Barnes is involved in cross country, football, swim, and track and field. His practices for football and cross country collide everyday. It is difficult for him to do both because of the conflict but he figured out a way! Mason attends cross country first and then goes to football practice. When asked if he will continue these activities in the future he replied, “For sure. I just love all the sports I do and sports are very important to me.”
Freshman Sam Todd is involved in drama club and marching band. Her practices overlap on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. Sam balances these by having good communication with her coaches/ directors. Sam says to try to “give both activities equal amounts of commitment and attention.” Both of her activities require lots of commitment and outside practice. Sam knows “this can sometimes be hard,” but she does what she loves and tries her best everyday.
These students have found ways to do incredible things. The district goal is for every student to be involved in an extracurricular activity, and these students can show us how this can be done.
