Sports here at Air Academy High School are greatly relied on by striving athletes who are looking for an outlet to not only express their talents, but also exert their built-up tension and energy. However, students at AAHS, as of 2022, have expressed concern about stress levels on top of school work.

A lot of students including seniors, juniors, and sophomores have still not fully recovered from online school environments and are trying to get back into the groove of handling course loads. Student-athletes, however, struggle with both school work and focusing on their sport season. 

“I struggle with the course load. I’m taking two AP classes, and even after practice I have a club. Some days I’m not getting home till 8 o’clock, and even then I still eat dinner and try to start all my homework around 9 ish,” junior Bethany Mickalak said concerningly. 

Student-athletes at our school, such as Michalak, share a common struggle. Even with teachers giving so much homework, students express their concern to their teachers, and while some may be understanding of the struggle some may not. 

“One time I had an assignment due the next day, in the morning before class started. I had completely forgotten about the assignment because I had a team practice and then team dinner. The next day when I told the teacher that I got wrapped up in my sport, they gave me little to no mercy about the assignment,” sophomore Luke McLellan said. 

Undoubtedly, many teachers can be unforgiving about assignments especially when it comes to outside activities not associated with AAHS Sports. 

“Last year when I was a junior and taking an AP lang class I told the teacher in advance that I would be missing a summative assessment because of cheer. However I did make the mistake and told her that it wasn’t for Air Academy cheer. The next week she put in grades and mine was an ‘F’ because of my one day assessment. When I went to the teacher about my concerning grade she told me that I couldn’t make the assessment up,” senior Kimmie Wurmstein said. 

Even with some teachers not being understanding with grades. There are a lot of teachers that are understanding and want the best for their students in order to see them excel and learn more not only as a person but also as a student-athlete. 

“A lot of teachers this year and last were very understanding if I told them I was struggling with some of my other classes and didn’t have the time to do theirs. I feel like teachers such as Mrs. Riley, Mr. Newell, even Mrs. Kelly are understanding of my work load especially during lacrosse season and pre season,” junior Carter Inazu said joyfully. 

All student-athletes and teachers should work together for a better cause. That cause should be students having a social life with the exception of also getting work done. AAHS should have a balance of both being a student and being a teenager. School can be stressful for all grades, even seniors who have been doing it for four years. Nevertheless, we should be working towards the common goal of creating community together not fighting against it.