By Alicia Sanchez
After school, work, chores, and extracurricular activities are completed, Plymouth High School students have time to spare, and each student spends his or her free time differently.
Free time means different things to different people. According to Junior Adrianna Enders, free time is “when you have the time in the day to just sit down and relax after a long hard day.” Similarly to what Enders said, Freshman Jay Brown said, “I believe that free time is time you have to yourself when you don’t have any responsibilities.” A number of students do not believe they are getting enough free time. Senior Kristen McNeal said, “I don’t think I have enough free time. Yes, I do think I deserve more free time. Just because all of the work I have, and I am taking hard classes, so I need as much time to relax as I can.” Agreeing with McNeal, Sophomore Felicia Dixon said, “I always have homework or [am] helping with somebody else’s homework. Half of the time I don’t have enough energy to get things done or get up in the morning because I stay up into the early hours of the morning to study. Yes [I think I deserve more free time] because I feel like I would be able to concentrate better in school.”
There are changes that could be made in order to give students more free time. McNeal said, “Well, one thing [they could change] would be to not to take so many hard classes, so there would be less homework. Therefore, less for me to worry about. On top of work and homework, I play softball. Which gives me even less free time. Even though I would never give that up.” Brown said, “I believe that if teachers didn’t give us homework every night or maybe if they say that the homework is due in 2 days. That way we could work on time management.”
Plymouth High School contains many books on a variety of subjects that can be read at their leisure. During the school year, a number of students spent their free time reading books, among other things. Freshman Jay Brown said, “I would prefer to read because books have a lot more detail than television. When watching TV, you just notice that a person looks at another person, while in a book you read that their soulmate is staring lovely into their eyes, wondering how anybody could be so beautiful.” Photo by: Alicia Sanchez
As previously stated, students spend their time differently from one another. Dixon said, “[I like to] sing, draw, dance and role play with my friends.” Different from Dixon, Enders said, “I like to watch YouTube videos because a lot of them are really funny and I love to laugh.” On the topic of reading or watching television, McNeal said, “[I prefer to] read, because my mind goes on it’s own world. Unless, there was a good movie on the TV, then I would watch TV.” McNeal added, “My favorite TV show hands down would be ‘Chasing Life.’ I love that show so much, and it kept me on the edge of my seat 99.9% of the time. Plus, it wasn’t like the usual TV show where there was a lot of drama. Instead it was a show about life, and how difficult it can be.” Similarly to what McNeal said, Dixon said, “[I prefer to] read because it can increase your intelligence. If you read you can transport yourself into another world and be someone else while you are becoming more intelligent. Plus I love love books.” Dixon also said, “I don’t have a favorite book; it is impossible for me to pick it. I love the Percy Jackson series, the Heroes of Olympus series, Kane Chronicles and Harry Potter series. I love fantasy especially mythology. Those series are the best written works of literature in the modern world in my opinion.”
Not only do students spend their time doing different things, they also spend it alongside different people. Enders said, “[I prefer to spend my free time] with a friend, because I love spending time with them and talking about other stuff and we help each other with homework.” Brown said, “I prefer to spend my time with a few friends and we just chill. We don’t have to do anything and if we just want to take a nap then we do.” Unlike Brown and Enders, Dixon said, “I like to spend my time alone in my room. I like it because I am free when I am by myself. But I like to talk to my friend Alexa on the computer so I’m not exactly alone. But I like to be left alone in my room.”
Writing is one of the ways students spend their free time. Whether it is for school or for pleasure, a number of students enjoy writing stories about a variety of subjects. Freshman Jay Brown said, “My favorite thing to do when I have free time would be to write, dream, and read. I like doing these things because I love making stories up and the best way to improve at writing is to read a lot!” Photo by: Alicia Sanchez
Students volunteer, take part in extracurricular activities, complete their chores, and work while they’re not at school, which can interfere with their free time. McNeal said, “During Blueberry I help set up, and help run stores. I also help people out when they need something. Also, I do Blueberry parking for the high school. I am hoping to continue adding things on to my volunteer list.” Brown said, “There are extracurricular activities that interfere with my free time. Volleyball [interferes with my free time] because I don’t get home until 6 for a practice and don’t get home until 9 or 10 for a game. Student Council [interferes with my free time] because I have to volunteer.” Enders said, “I do the dishes and that takes time out of hanging with friends and playing video games.” McNeal said, “I work everyday on the weekends, and a few after school. So, it interferes, because I usually don’t have enough time to have fun. At the same time I need my job, to help pay for bills.”
Though they may not have much of it, students appreciate what free time they have. Enders said, “[I appreciate my free time] because if I didn’t have the free time that I have now I wouldn’t to be able to go to friends house, join clubs at school, etc.” Agreeing with Enders, Brown said, “I do appreciate the free time I have because I rarely have any so when I do it is very exciting!”