Tessa Aprea, a sophomore at CHS, spends her time split between three places: the track, the dance studio and school. Though it isn’t easy, she tries to find a balance between all of these activities.
After classes, she either goes to track practice from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and then goes to dance, usually till 9 p.m., or if she doesn’t have track, she just has dance from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Aprea has been doing both sports together since February. However, she has been dancing since she was two years old and started doing track in eighth grade.
“Dance has always been a top priority for me,” Aprea said. “I only go to track three days a week, but dance five days a week.”
When it comes to schoolwork, Aprea is able to get it done before her practices. She often spends time doing homework on the first floor of Community while waiting for the bus to take her to Pioneer.
“I have like an hour while I wait at Pioneer for track to start, so it’s a really good time for me to do homework,” Aprea said.
After several hours of practice Aprea gets home around 9:30 or 10 p.m. She always enjoys the chance to wind down after a long day.
“I love listening to music and just deep cleaning my room,” Aprea said. “It’s honestly the best way for me to wind down because my brain does not turn off till late at night.”
“The thing is, I love doing both,” Aprea said. “I get stressed a lot, which isn’t a good feeling for me. But I know I need to stay on top of my homework in order to continue both activities. It keeps me motivated because I would hate to lose that because I love doing them so much.”
Some of the strategies Aprea uses to deal with stress are going to a quiet place, putting on headphones and listening to music she likes. If she has a really hard assignment that she doesn’t quite understand, Aprea will take time to try to teach herself the content.
“There are certain days where I don’t have any activities,” Aprea said. “Like Fridays, I don’t have anything, so I go to football games and hang out with my friends there, and it’s a really good time for me to hang out with my friends from Pioneer as well.”
