Admiring my freshman year planner, I realize how manageable and blithe life once was. My assignments for the day seldom solicited more than three lines of writing, and the remaining space was wisely adopted as a convenient medium to doodle thoughts on. Apparently, on Oct. 3, 2007, I really wanted to watch the series premiere of Pushing Daisies. Two years and a disproportionate amount of sleep later, I’m pulling teeth to finish the wall of text filling each day of my planner.

Across MSJ in its entirety, it’s probably safe to assume that the typical student has experienced days in which finishing homework keeps him or her up late into the night. Though it appears neverending, the problem is not what it seems. Indeed, many parents have complained about the homework load to the school board, the administration, and teachers. The ensuing tensions forced at least one teacher  unwillingly to  reduce significantly the assignment load given. But the parents’ anecdotes often only reflect the time their kids sleep; if a student sleeps late, it does not necessarily follow that too much homework is given. What goes on before the parents come home, behind closed doors, or at the computer is not always diligence at its finest.

In fact, “too much homework” is an ambiguous measure of time predicated on opinion. While the studious and efficient are able to blow through their daily work, the “too-much-homework” Facebook status updaters spend a couple of hours embracing technology and communication before they reunite with their backpack’s treasures. Similarly, it may not be surprising that the students who respond to the flashing taskbar icons every few seconds end up only procuring a few hours of sleep.

Another alternative culprit to the perception of the homework overload is the procrastination sensation. To be honest, I’m starting this article I neglected for weeks at midnight - hours before deadline. It’s not that I find staying up late particularly titillating or  consider the taunting of my companion-destitute bed a friendly challenge. Rather, as I ignore some projects and assignments, they eventually keep me up later and later until the weekend comes to prepare me for battles of waking up in the morning and staying awake at night for the impending school week.

However, the fault for piling up projects and assignments falls on us, the students. When we opt to take more AP and Honors classes than we can handle, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

But what may be unnerving is that there are students who take the maximum amount of AP and Honors classes each year - with great success. Likewise, there are a handful of people who can multitask while working and not suffer the consequences displayed by their peers. The disparity is elucidated by people who believe there is a reasonable amount, or even a dearth of homework, versus unmanageable loads of homework.

Either way, as students progress through their years at MSJ and take increasingly advanced classes, they can only expect to devote more of their Glee time to academics.