It’s Tuesday afternoon, and I just got home from school. Instead of leisurely sitting down, petting my dog, and getting a snack, I immediately start my homework, blasting whatever bizarre combination of music I was playing in my headphones on the bus—Tupac, Amy Winehouse, and Sabrina Carpenter in quick succession.

I first do my math homework, which is the most time-consuming (more than 40 minutes of absolute frustration and metaphorically ripping my hair out). Then I do English, Modern World History, and French, and finally, I start working on journalism drafts. I forgo my chemistry homework, as I take early bird, and I don’t have it on Anchor Days.

If you account for me eating dinner with my family and my after-school athletics, I finish my work at around 10:30 p.m. on a good day.

A bad day? I finish at 11:30 p.m.

A silver lining of going to bed late on Tuesdays is that I don’t have early bird the next day, meaning I can sleep in until 7:05 a.m. I might even get a good seven hours of sleep (my doctor’s shaking in her boots from my lack of rest!). As a high school student, I need time to relax and have time to watch a trashy TV show or play catch with my dog. I don’t usually get to do that, especially on the night before an Anchor Day (the day that feels, to me, exponentially longer), because of my heavy workload.

I digress, though, as teachers are sometimes gracious when assigning homework on Anchor Days. Sometimes, I don’t even have math or English homework on Wednesday nights, which are usually my most time-consuming subjects. My homework load is easier because each teacher assigns around 15 to 25 minutes of homework, and I can finish everything by 9 p.m. 

This courtesy must be extended to the night before anchor days, too. 

I enjoy the block schedule because it allows me to manage my time wisely. Since I participate in some sports and clubs, I need to be able to balance those extracurriculars with my homework—and still get a decent night’s sleep. Not having all my classes every day is a great way to not get too overwhelmed with homework each night. 

Anchor days reverse that, and the effect is mainly felt on Tuesday nights. 

Teachers assume that since it’s a block schedule, I do all my time-consuming homework assignments on the night it is assigned, but sometimes that’s not possible. Therefore, they’ll give 30-40 minutes of homework (saying, “it’s not too bad, don’t worry!”) and expect it to be done quickly. But if every teacher assigns time-consuming homework, regardless of whether I do blue day homework on Monday or not, I will still be drowning in work come Tuesday night.

As a sophomore, my homework load is probably not as bad as a junior’s or a senior’s, so I can imagine it is worse for them (I’m so sorry, upperclassmen). 

Sure, teachers argue that we can work on our homework during free periods, but with the excessive amount of homework assigned some Tuesdays, free periods are not enough time. They may try to argue that it helps us manage our time better, but should we sacrifice our social life and, more importantly, our sleep to do homework, which most likely will be rushed?

If we are assigned less homework, or given more time to complete our homework (making due dates the next Blue or Green Day), we are more likely to devote more time and effort to our work. This leads to better grades, and, well, who can argue against that?

Teachers need to understand that we have lives, and on Tuesday nights, it is taken away from us. Please, for the love of anything, give us less homework.