In the year 2021, currently about 2,081 students attend John H. Pitman High School and each one of them deserve appreciation for what they go through on a daily basis in their personal lives.

Many students have responsibilities beyond schooling and a majority struggle balancing school with either family, work, or their mental health. Nevertheless, those students are strong for whatever obstacles they may push through every day. 

Alyssa (Alls) O’neill (they/them), is one student in particular who will be in the spotlight this week.

Alls is a very smart and respectful student who takes all honors and AP classes. They are always working hard on their assignments and also watches their siblings after school to help their mom. Balancing schoolwork and family is not something that’s easy.

Usually, Alls has to find time to do homework when watching their siblings but it’s hard since their siblings range from the age years 4-13 and require more attention. 

Last week, Alls filled out an application to work at Little Caesars so they could earn some income. On Wednesday, they contacted Little Caesars about their application and learned that they wanted to set up an interview with them. This is a huge accomplishment for Alls because they will finally be able to earn some money to use towards something they’ve always wanted in the future. 

Even though they’re going to have to balance their new job, school, and their siblings, they’ll still have the ability to do it since they’re such a strong individual. Although, they could have some help here and there from their teachers. 

Alls was personally asked the question, “What do you think your daily routine will look like after you get the job from Little Caesars?”

They responded with, “I would probably wake up, go to school, come home, go to work and then come home again and do any homework I have that day and then babysit. I’ll be working three hours for five days a week and on weekends I’ll work for eight hours.” 

On days off Alls, most of the time, plans on going to friends’ houses and the skatepark because they also need to fulfil social and mental needs they may have. 

They were also asked, “How do you find time to balance your school work and home life?” to gain some more background information on their life and to learn more about their routine.

Alls said, “When I come home from school, it’s pretty difficult to do my homework because I have to give all my attention to my siblings. Usually, they go to sleep around 8 PM so then I’ll finally have time to do my homework which takes about three hours. So, I don’t go to sleep until late at night.” 

The final question Alls was asked was, “Do you think you should be given less homework since a lot of people have certain responsibilities after school?” 

They responded with, “I feel like many teachers are inconsiderate of the responsibilities each student has. I feel that homework in a lot of areas is unnecessary and that it is the teachers responsibility to teach you what is necessary in the allotted time they have. Many teachers fail to realize the difficulties their students face on a daily basis. I personally have to babysit, clean, and cook while also trying to balance a relationship, social life, school and soon to be, work. For these reasons, I think homework is unnecessary.”