She stumbles under the weight of expectations. Cross-country practice. AP class homework. College Applications. All of these things overload Kaitlyn Olsen’s daily schedule.  

As a cross-country runner, Kaitlyn finds her time taken up by long meets and frequent practice during the fall; she struggles to find the time to complete all of her homework.

Homework and college applications put more stress on Kaitlyn than anything else.

Because Kaitlyn is a senior, she spends time working on college applications — an incredibly stressful process.

Writing essays.

Requesting letters of recommendation.

Narrowing options.

As she advances in the process, Kaitlyn finds herself putting things off, and it leaves her with additional stress as she finds herself with less and less time to complete everything.

Finding time for socializing also proves difficult, so she finds innovative ways to meet with friends. She often combines study sessions with coffee dates, bringing fun, friends, food, and homework together. Sitting at Starbucks with friends while completing her AP biology homework allows her to feel both happy and productive.

Kaitlyn discovers that her teachers understand when she can’t complete everything, and she is grateful for the extra time they are willing to give her when she has a meet that runs late or tons of homework she can’t complete all in one night. She wants other students to know that they can go to their teachers as well.

Kaitlyn sets priorities and gets the things at the top of her list completed first, especially on cross- country days when she’s pressed for time. Then, if she has time left, she’ll work on other things until 10:30 p.m.  Then she sleeps.

Ultimately, she values her physical and emotional health above everything else.

“If you have a passion for something, make that a priority.”

Teachers understand exhaustion.

“Make your passion and your health a priority.”