After a busy school day, the senior at Central Texas Christian School is playing guard for the girls basketball team, which she follows by immediately changing into her cheerleading uniform to cheer for the boys team.
“It’s fun,” said Miss Gonzalez, 18. “I mean, not too many people get the opportunity to go from playing in a basketball game to actually changing into a cheerleading uniform. It’s definitely a change of pace.”
Miss Gonzalez is not your typical teenager. She’s an overachiever. Besides cheerleading and basketball, she’s a class officer and an elementary classroom aide. She’s an honor student and president of CTCS’ National Honor Society. Amazingly, she takes a dual-credit class to earn college credit and uses her time between activities, clubs and athletics to do her homework.
“Things go by fast,” she said. “I just kind of have to keep track of my schedule - I get stressed sometimes, but in the end I think it’s worth it.”
Miss Gonzalez puts more work into a school day than a typical eight-hour-a-day work shift adult. She wakes up early, sometimes around 6 a.m., and often doesn’t arrive home until 8 p.m. She has meetings in the morning before school, during school, during lunch, and has practice and athletic events in the evenings.
“I have National Honor Society meetings every Thursday, and I take a first-period class, which a lot of students don’t do,” she said. “It’s funny, sometimes at the end of the day I fall asleep doing my homework, and have to finish it the next morning when I wake up.”
Miss Gonzalez, who wants to be an elementary school teacher after college, said she doesn’t think people realize the amount of structure, motivation and organization that goes into her school days. And how long those days are.
“I’ve never really felt overworked. I’ve never really felt like I’m missing out on anything because of my schedule,” she said.
Unlike a lot of teen’s transitioning from high school to college, Miss Gonzalez won’t be worried about her organization skills. In fact, she thinks she may end up doing less, and will be able to focus on studies she enjoys.
“I actually think (going to college) could be sort of a break for me,” she said. “I don’t think I’ll have these super-long days like I’m having here.”
The Day Planner
“I actually have a planner that I use,” says Sarah Tindell, 17, a senior at Belton High School. “Sometimes at the beginning of the week, I look at it and get overwhelmed.”
Miss Tindell is a cheerleader and soccer player, president of the BHS French Club, a member of the school’s Madrigal musical choir, and participates in school drama productions. “My schedule’s packed,” she said.
After dropping her younger sisters off early in the morning, she has three of her “harder” classes consecutively -English, anatomy and physiology, and government. Then she has lunch. Only most of the time, instead of eating, she’s doing something else, like performing in choir shows.
“When I wake up in the morning and have to get together what I have to wear it can get messy. Sometimes I show up in my school clothes and have to switch into my choir polo,” says Miss Tindell. “Then I put my school clothes back on and end up changing into cheerleading clothes for practice later in the day. I never really have just one outfit.”
The fall season can be particularly busy. “I have to cheer during football games, and go to rehearsals for musicals,” said Miss Tindell.
“I don’t like to be bored,” she said. “I’ve always been interested in so many things that I didn’t want to give up on anything. It’s hard work, but I manage to balance everything out.”
She says her heavy schedule will help her when she goes to college - she wants to be a family practice doctor.
“Sometimes I do feel like I’m missing out on things,” Miss Tindell said.
“I’m doing stuff I enjoy though, so I can’t complain. I love cheering, I love singing, and I love French,” she said. “I want to be committed to everything. I’d be letting people down if I wasn’t committed to the groups I belong to.”
Whenever I have extra time
“I just do my homework whenever I have extra time,” says Shelby Morris, 18, a senior at Holy Trinity Catholic High School.
An honor student, Miss Morris is captain of the school’s forensics team and is student council president. She’s also on the basketball and golf teams.
“I just try to balance everything out,” she said. “I’m always going from one thing to another, but I never really experience any type of stress unless (exams) are going on. Most of the time it’s fun.”
Miss Morris said her mom encouraged her to get heavily involved in activities while she was in middle school.
“She told me it would look good when I applied to get into (Holy Trinity),” she said. “And I sort of continued that approach when I got here. Now I do it because I want to look good for colleges.”
She wakes up everyday at 5:50 a.m., and often travels to the Temple College Bioscience Institute where she takes college classes for credit. She doesn’t get home sometimes until mid- or late evenings.
Miss Morris, who may study biomedical science in college, said, “I’m just getting ready for what may be ahead.”
She said she hasn’t ever felt she’s missing out on anything.
“A lot of my friends are in the groups I’m in, so they’re taking on (the same amount of) work that I am,” she said.
Chris Mosmeyer, Holy Trinity’s English department chair and forensics coach, said the difference between Miss Morris and a lot of students is her attitude. “She’s always smiling, and trying to stay positive and take things on,” he said.
