Most People Would Think

Most People Would Think



         Some people say they’re unimportant, or boring, or simply just stupid. Well, I’d have to strongly disagree with those people. Playing sports isn’t just a hobby that I do in my spare time- they’re more like my life. Parents and teachers, well what do they know? They all think that school work comes first, but come on, we all know that it doesn’t. Maybe it should, but it just doesn’t.

         At night when I get home from a volleyball game my mother asks me, “Samantha, did you finish your homework?”

         “Yes mother,” I answer only because that’s the free ticket to climb in my bed and fall asleep. Don’t they know that we have a life outside of class? Why would I say that I haven’t finished my homework when that would mean staying up two extra hours trying to write in some other language that I know hardly anything about? All of my muscles are aching and I can feel the splitting migraine that is about to erupt in my head from lack of sleep. The least of my worries is homework.

         So when do I do my homework? Well, most of the time it’s when I get to the class that it’s due in. Before the bell rings I rush around and write down random answers because I know that the homework won’t be graded. Sometimes that doesn’t happen though.

         “Homework?” the teacher who gave me fifty-eight questions asks me at the beginning of class.

         “I don’t have it,” I answer nonchalantly.

         “And why not?” he presses.

         “Um, I just don’t?” I tell him, beginning to become aggravated. Do I need to spell it out for him? He tells me to bring it to him tomorrow, just like every other time I don’t do my homework.

         Later on that day while I’m with my friends, who aren’t all athletic, we talk about the upcoming field trip that we have the choice to take.

         “Well, I’m not going,” someone says. When she tells me why she isn’t going, well let’s just say that I very nicely tell her that she’s crazy if she thinks that she’ll have more make-up work than me.

         Why doesn’t she get it? What does she do after school? Well, I’m positive that most of the time she goes home and watches television for awhile. She’s lucky that she doesn’t have any extra curricular activities after school or she’d be in some real trouble with her grades.

         “What a waste of time,”  I think to myself. A day in the life of Samantha Smith consists of getting up for school at five thirty in the morning, trying my hardest to stay awake during class, and heading straight for volleyball when the bell rings for school to be dismissed. Then I get home at ten o’clock at night, still have to eat dinner and do my physical therapy, but my mother always has the nerve to ask if I’ve done my homework!

         I’d like to yell at her, “You mean have I slept at all during the past week?” Now see, most people would say that I have the whole weekend to sleep. Those people would be wrong. I have softball tournaments on the weekends and sometimes that could mean waking up at six thirty in the morning and not getting home until nine o’clock at night. Please tell me, when do I have time to do schoolwork and still be able to get my eight hours of sleep? Yeah, I don’t. I’m lucky if I get six.

         Most people would be thinking by now that I make bad grades. Those people would be wrong. I make very good grades, and yeah I know, I better step it up before I watch the third strike go by. I won’t always be able to get by like this, to slide under the tag that the teacher’s trying to call me out on. My only problem is knowing when to step up to the plate and swing.

         “Maybe tomorrow,” I sigh to myself, knowing that I was lucky getting a ninety-five on that Spanish test. 

         On one of those rare days that I happen to have done my homework a kid has the nerve to come up to me and ask if he can copy it. Oh and by the way, he doesn’t do anything after school because when I ask what he was so busy with that he didn’t have time to finish it he says, “Oh, I was outside playing with my dogs.” Most people would think that I might just be nice and let him copy it. Those people would be wrong. I do the opposite and tell him why I wont let him have my homework.

         “Um no, I don’t think so,” I begin. “Do you know when I did my homework?” He shakes his head no. “Well I did my homework after I was finished playing in my volleyball game at seven thirty last night. Yeah, we stay and watch varsity play so the whole gym is filled with screaming fans. I did my homework in that gym and so did everyone else on my team who needs a good grade. I think if I can manage to finish mine, then you can surely do yours.”  After I tell him that I just walk away without another word and let him ponder on the lesson that he learned.

         Most people would think that the solution to this would be to quit some of my sports and focus on school. Those people are always wrong. I love those sports and sometimes they are the only thing that I look forward to during the day. Like I said before, those sports are a big chunk of my life. Why would I kill myself?