Summer still hanging in the air, a cool breeze in the morning turned into a dense heat by afternoon, an excited and anxious smile brought into the front doors, and 7 hours of homework all by the end of the day. Or at least, that’s how the first week of school goes for some students here at Hingham High School. Many teachers are already treading a thin line between a fair and unfair amount of work. But the heavy work load begs a question, “isn’t this what students signed up for?”

The amount of work given to students the first week of school here at Hingham High can be very intimidating, especially for students new to the high school. “It was kind of tough. I was expecting a lot, but it was very heavy to start off with,” freshman Zoie Mulrey states. “It was scary.” Middle school students are taught that high school does get tough; however, maybe our school is even tougher than teachers at HMS let on. Within the first week, students are overwhelmed by their work load. Yes, the amount of homework should be challenging; but scary?

The amount of work given to upperclassmen, specifically juniors also raises many questions. Junior Natalie Gebhardt, ponders, “I think that it’s been relatively light, but maybe at this point I’m just used to having hours of homework.” Natalie appears to be having an easier week than most, but her reasoning is a bit disconcerting. Is it right for her only to feel at ease now because she has already endured very high stress?

Some students have had a more grim approach than Natalie, as junior Mary Kate Brennan says, “It was like school pushed everything else out of my life and I could only focus on school.” Sometimes the work load given to students can dictate anything else they are obligated, or choose, to do. Students are recommended to participate in sports and clubs, many are required to volunteer by senior year, and some need to work to support their families or higher education. If teens are being asked of all those things, on top of a 6 and a half hour school day and a full night of homework, how are they supposed to balance it? A healthy mind and social life is almost completely out of the question.

Junior Kate Murray is facing the hard consequences of trying to fit all of the above in. Kate says last week, “was literally the worst week of my life, I got maybe 8 hours of sleep total”. Kate an A.P. and honors student, cross country runner, and robotics club member is clearly trying to balance the recommendations imposed upon her as a student, yet here she is lacking sleep; this is something completely unhealthy to ask of a student. But the question remains: isn’t she asking for that amount of work?

I don’t think she is. Maybe the stress partially lies in participating in extracurricular activities, combined with challenging courses. Although Hingham may not recommend those two together, colleges sure look for them. It is not the students fault for wanting to get in to a good college; it is the college’s fault for asking too much of the students.

The views on the first week of school vary. Incoming students can be scared of the amount of work they are given. Some have gotten used to it, which is troublesome, while some are given so much work that it discards other parts of life, even sleep. And while that could be the result of overworking oneself, it’s not the students fault when colleges reward a schedule crammed with A.P. and honors classes, sports, clubs, volunteering, and jobs. Whether this is the student’s, the high school’s, or colleges’ problems, school should arguably never be, as Mary Kate Brennan says, “like going to Chipotle to find that they ran out of steak”.