Many Seniors at Brighter Horizons Academy only attend school two of the five school weekdays. However, although this may sound like the easiest year for high-schoolers, it is not that simple, especially for athletes. Senior year is the year when students make important choices that will dictate their future. For athletes specifically, in addition to classes and college applications, they also have to consider their commitments to their respective sports teams. We spoke to some student athletes about what an average day of school looks like for a Freshman athlete compared to a Senior one, and the results were quite surprising.
Freshman Maryam Gabr, a varsity basketball player, has a very organized schedule and enjoys always being prepared. The night before school, she packs a good lunch and clothes for afterschool basketball practice. Not only does she pack, but she also ensures she has studied sufficiently for the coming week, completed all her assignments and homework, and prepared for all her tests and quizzes. She then wakes up, finishes her morning routine, and heads to school. She attends school from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm and goes to tutoring as much as she can before tests and quizzes in order to stay on top of her grades. Then she has basketball practice, unless she has a game that day. At basketball practice, she always makes sure to start by stretching and end by getting some shots up. After practice ends, her parents pick her up and she goes home. At home, she eats dinner in order to refuel the energy from her tiring day. Then she takes a long, relaxing shower and completes her homework. After she has finished all these tasks, she begins preparing for another school day, and the cycle repeats until Friday.
On the other hand Senior Amin Said, a varsity soccer player, has a schedule that looks very different from this. A day for him starts with waking up and doing his normal daily routine. On Mondays and Wednesdays, he heads to school for Arabic at 8:15 am. By around 12:00 pm, his AQI (Arabic, Quran, and Islamic Studies) classes have already finished and it’s time for lunch, when he usually goes out with his friends. But Amin still has to go back to school for varsity soccer practice at 4:00 pm. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, he has classes at Dallas College where he takes the rest of his courses. Depending on whether or not he has exams for his dual-credit courses, he will go to coffee shops and, to put it in his own words, “lock in.”
At Richland, Said takes Algebra at around 2:00 pm and he typically finishes at 3:20 pm. Right after this, he has to head to practice. After practice, depending on the amount of studying and assignments he has, he will either head to the gym or go home and get to studying. The workload for him consists of 80 percent dual-credit work and 20 percent AQI work. At the end of the day, he completes his nightly routine, and the cycle repeats.
As you probably tell, the schedules for these two students vary greatly, even though they’re both high-school athletes. However, you can see the dedication and discipline of these two students whether they are Freshmen or Seniors.
Success at Brighter Horizons Academy requires this type of organization, discipline, and commitment. The freedom Seniors enjoy comes with responsibility and hard choices, while Freshmen are working hard to eventually make the right choices for their future.
