West Seattle High School offers many different sports for students to pick from. From football to volleyball, baseball  to even bowling, there are many options for all students who are interested. I decided to play basketball. I made the team freshman year and was excited, but it has taken a major toll on my overall schedule and school performance. Balancing between school and your sport is essential to having a successful and positive high school experience. The first few weeks of basketball practice are extremely exciting. Meeting your teammates and learning the new plays for the team is always a good time, but as the season progresses you begin to feel tired more often and start to see a decline in grades and academics. It gets tiring going from school right to basketball practice and not knowing if you’re going to be able to finish the homework you got that day at home. 

What I did when balancing my schoolwork and basketball was to make a list of my classes and then write all the schoolwork down under those classes that I know I must do or haven’t done. This is a good way to balance your schedule because it gives you a visual representation of the work and what you may be behind on, which can allow you to plan out how you’re going to approach unfinished work. My friend Lukas, who also played basketball his freshman year said, “It’s hard to not procrastinate, but I made sure that in the limited free time I have that my assignments are getting turned in on time.” I agree with this because utilizing your free time is the most important thing to being good at balancing schedules. If you’re constantly procrastinating and pushing off work till the next day, you will soon find out how hard it is to dig yourself out of that hole. While school sports can be fun and you can meet new friends and have lifelong experiences, it also is a necessity to plan out your schoolwork.