By Dasia Walters

“… in the end all of my hard work and everything will show out.” – senior Tara Orr

The end of the school year: a time of restlessness, anticipation, and for many, a great deal of stress. With the amount of exams being given, clubs and organizations wrapping up and seniors preparing for graduation, the feverishness can reach record highs.

For sophomore Shayla Smith though, things have so far been smooth sailing. Recently she was required to take the yearly EOC exams and didn’t find much difficulty in completing them.

“It was easier than last year because I was prepared and I knew how the test works,” said Smith.

However, up one grade level things begin to look a little more hectic.

Junior Nicole Precht’s testing plate overflows with several AP exams, the ACT, class finals and an upcoming SAT subject test in June.

“It’s not natural to have this much pressure,” Precht said. Despite that, with her willpower and knowledge of self, she sees it through. “It’s a lot of self-discipline. You have to know when you work the best, how you work the best and where you work the best.”

Pretcht also emphasized self-motivation as one of her driving forces toward succeeding in all of her academic endeavors.

“If you’re not into it then you’re going to fail,” Precht said

Senior Tara Orr, who on top of academics has been planning for graduation, completing the last of her duties as DECA president and scurrying between various family events and working two jobs, shared that sentiment.

“You’ve got to be doing what you love because you won’t get this time back,” said Orr.

And the responsibilities don’t stop with students. With constant grading and students rushing to finish last minute assignments and trying to bring their D’s up to B’s within the span of a few weeks, then strain on teachers can run high.

“It’s just the accumulated stress of the year,” said physics and engineering teacher Ben Burwell.

In the end though, there is still something to look forward to and a bright side amongst the mess.

“I’ve gotten a lot of opportunities to meet people and network,” reflected Orr, “and in the end all of my hard work and everything will show out.”

And if that’s not enough: 13 more weekdays until school is out.