In an exclusive interview, The Paw Print’s Gabriella Di Lalla sat down with Rhea Deshpande to discuss the busy start to her sophomore year.

Gabriella: Thanks for helping me in this interview today! Would you say this had been the hardest year for you so far? If so why?

Deshpande: I would definitely say this has been the hardest school year for me so far. Just learning to manage all my classes with clubs and sports, as well as getting used to the eight-period schedule has been pretty difficult. I definitely have had to work twice as hard as last year to manage my time properly and make sure all my work is getting done.

Gabriella: Yeah that makes sense. What are you balancing currently besides school?

Deshpande: I’m currently balancing band, gymnastics, and science olympiad and some other clubs like Interact and Student Council.

Gabriella: Do you have specific methods you use to get through all your homework while balancing all other extracurriculars?

Deshpande: I really like using a planner. I find it keeps my brain organized because I can write more than schoolwork in there. It’s also motivating to be able to physically see all the stuff I’ve finished and crossed off.

Gabriella: I completely agree. When I cross something off my planner it feels so good. What would you say is your most demanding class?

Deshpande: My most demanding class this year is probably AP World and close behind is AP Chem. [AP] World is hard because there’s so much curriculum to get through, and it’s all mostly brand new which is tough. [AP] Chem is a lot of work outside of school, and it’s also all brand new because I never took physical science so having to learn all the basics, and the advanced stuff is definitely really hard.

Gabriella: How are you adjusting to this new eight-period schedule?

Deshpande: It’s definitely been an adjustment, and I am having trouble going from block to eight-period but I think once second quarter comes, I’ll get more in the groove of things, and it won’t be too hard.

Gabriella: Do you like the eight-period schedule better than block?

Deshpande: I definitely prefer a block schedule because even though I didn’t see all my teachers every day, I felt like I connected more with them during the block periods. In the 8-period schedule, I just feel like all the teachers are struggling to condense last year’s content in half to fit the periods, and so we get assigned the rest as homework. I also feel like the staff is so used to assigning two days’ worth of homework and now we only have one day to finish at least six periods worth of homework and each class is assigning two nights’ worth of homework.

Gabriella: All of my classes are like that, too! It’s so tiring. What is your daily routine on an average school day?

Deshpande: On a daily school day, I get to school around 7:30am and get home around 3:30pm, unless I have science olympiad then I get home around 6:00pm. Once I get home, I start my homework, and I usually go until around 5:30pm, then I take a break when my parents get home from work and shower. I start again after dinner around 7:30pm and usually work until 9:30-10:00pm. If it’s a Wednesday or Thursday, I’ll do homework until around 5:00pm, then go to practice and come home around 9:00pm, then shower and eat dinner and do some more homework until 10:30-11:00pm. I usually go to sleep between the 10:00pm and 12:00am range.

Gabriella: What do your weekends consist of?

Deshpande: My weekends are usually pretty busy because Friday nights are football games, and Saturday I usually have family events in the evening and I spend Saturday with my family. On Sundays, I have gymnastics practice 8:30-11:30am, and then once I get home, I spend most of the time doing my homework and getting ahead for the week, so I don’t have as much to do.

Gabriella: If you could change one thing about your schedule, what would it be?

Deshpande: If I could change one thing about my schedule, I would probably add a study hall just because at home there’s a lot of distractions, and at school, I have the chance to ask teachers for help instead of having to email and wait for a reply.