By Austin Henry, Norwood High School Senior

The school year is broken up into four terms, and each term typically has a varying level of difficulty due to different events going on throughout the year. 

Term 1 of school is usually pretty easy as teachers are just starting out the curriculum and school ends up being review heavy.

Term 2 is a little more difficult but it’s broken up by endless four-day weeks and holidays. This makes Term 2 a lot less difficult.

Term 3 is usually the hardest Term as it is when teachers reach the most difficult time in their curriculum and is often plagued with long drawn out five-day weeks where the sun sets an hour after school lets out. All of this together makes Term 3 the biggest headache for many students. 

Term 4 on the other hand features the end of many curriculums and isn’t all that difficult especially as the curtains close on the year. 

At Norwood High School (NHS), students are right in the smack dab middle of Term 3 and the pressure is on! 

Junior Stefanie Kurtiqi is feeling the gravity of this most difficult quarter of the year.

“It’s just a lot of work,” Kurtiqu said. “I know a lot of people were saying that as February break approached they were getting a lot of work. It’s a little overwhelming.” 

This is often the case for many students in this third term, especially when you spend most of your time inside, and you come outside and it’s cold, dark, and wintery. All of this contributes to an anxiety and almost claustrophobic feeling for many students. 

“I’ve had more homework than I expected,” Senior Will Morrissey said.

Being a student myself in Norwood I have definitely felt the difference in homework between this year and the Covid years. For seniors, this is the first normal year and for many this can lead to an unexpected and overwhelming level of work.

Although there is difficulty, many NHS students aren’t doing too bad at all!

Junior Aiden Ciavattone, doesn’t seem to feel the pinch of the Term, but it seems time management may be his key to success. 

“The work at school is fine to be honest,” Ciavattone said. “I rarely do homework because I get stuff done during WIN (an allocated block of time on Tuesdays and Thursdays for teacher help) or studies. English this year kinda sucks (he’s giving an independent reading assignment plus entering a writing contest and another video project).”

The seniors do have a little bit of an interesting twist on the third term as it is their last full term.

“Well to be honest, senioritis is really kicking in, but at the same time I feel proud of myself for making it this far!” Senior Payton Otto said.

Senioritis refers to the loss of motivation felt by many at the end of their senior year. In the third term, this is definitely being felt as many will soon find out what college they are going to. So once you’ve been accepted into a college, high school seems obsolete. 

“The classes I am taking are easy enough for me that I can somewhat relax and coast through the rest of senior year,” Senior Evan ___ commented.

All this being said, Term 3 can be a mixed bag of sours and sweets for the students of Norwood High School!