After school, upperclassmen rush to the parking lot in order to get into their cars, underclassmen are seen waiting either at the pick-up spot or catching public transit. Even though all these kids attend the same school, there is still a drastic difference in priorities and schedules among different grade levels.

With each grade level being in completely different stages, it’s important to understand how their schedules affect their day-to-day life and how much freedom they have.

Seniors are known for having the most freedom but also a much busier schedule. Seniors are also approaching the age where they can be completely independent. However, with juggling college applications and taking more difficult classes, a lot of that freedom can go to waste. 

“We have enough cars so that we are always able to get somewhere,” senior Talia Schofer said. 

On the other hand, Schofer also talked about how differences in schedule can make it challenging to go out.

 “I do think that some of my time that is taken away from being with other people has to do with prior commitments, including school,” Schofer said.

Next are juniors, infamously known for having the most stressful year of high school. With having to start the college application process and putting in the hours for that perfect SAT/ACT score, juniors have a lot on their plate. However, most have begun the process of getting their driver’s license, which in the end, will give them a lot of freedom.

“Since I can’t drive and I don’t have my license, it does limit a lot of things,” junior Sid Scale said.

Scale’s schedule as an athlete and a student conflict with each other, which makes his days very busy. 

“Soccer does take up a lot of my time and then when I go home I still have an amount of homework to do,” Scale said. 

Then we have sophomores, where the students are starting to manage the increase of class difficulty and possible new jobs. This can be a difficult change to adjust to. Sophomores are also dealing with the issue of not being old enough to be fully independent, which can limit a lot of free time.

Sophomore Maya Bezabeh has a lot less free time now compared to freshman year.

 “Especially with school starting and having a job, I only get one to two hours to myself until I go to bed,” Bezabeh said.

Finally, there are freshmen. Their experience is very unique from everybody else’s due to it being their first time exposed to highschool. These students have to deal with the new pace of high school courses and adjusting to their new environment. Not only that, but they’re the youngest group of students in the school, making their freedom very limited.

“It might take a couple of weeks ‘til I hang out again depending on how my parents feel,” freshman Joseph Ccama said.

High schools are filled with a variety of age groups that are all going through monumental points of their life. As the year goes by, we must understand how all these different schedules can clash with how students make use of their freedom.