As 2018 winds down, many are looking forward to the new year, hoping for a brief respite over their upcoming winter breaks. Every year around this time, people become sluggish. They’re tired, worn out, and all they want is a burst of energy to give them that extra boost needed to cross the finish line. This year’s schedule, however, makes that a bit difficult. Whether it’s the fact that our weather has prevented us from attending school on multiple occasions or that Thanksgiving came the earliest it could, the month of December is a challenging one for students.

This school year has been atypical, with hurricanes Florence and Michael causing school closings due to flooding. These changes in weather led to a series of shortened school weeks, ones that I and my fellow classmates got especially used to. Additionally, WS/FCS plans out certain teacher work days that require classes to be canceled. On top of that are early release days and the three day Thanksgiving break. All of these days off helped cultivate the mindset that I and my fellow classmates are struggling to shake: each school week should have at least one off day.

While these days were nice, recovering from them has been difficult. There are many instances where I hear of students reaching their wits end by Wednesday, unaccustomed to the rigor of a five-day school week. That struggle coupled with the reality of the fact that December houses four full, uninterrupted school weeks has led to despair among my peers, and, at the end of the day, students receive just eight school days off for winter break, one of the shortest we’ve had in a while. So, if you encounter a stressed student, don’t take it personally, they’re just trying to make it through the end of 2018 in any way they can.