School can be difficult for most, if not all, students.

Certain subjects come easier to some than others. This year, a lot of students struggled but were able to get past difficulties either with the help of their teachers or by trying different studying tactics.

For me, the most challenging subject I had this year was biology. Now, my struggles were not because I did not have a good teacher. In my opinion, it was because I could not grasp the concepts. By the time I knew I needed to get help, it was too late because the test was the next day.

My biology teacher Keara Schaffer is a more hands-on and activity-based teacher. She says that science is tough and is different from most subjects. 

“Science is a tough subject,” said Schaffer. “It is different; you have to think differently.”

In biology, I was always distracted by something, whether it be my friends or what was on the wall. I get distracted easily, and instead of asking for help, I would think that I could go home and cram all the information from the unit into one night of studying. 

Lakeland High School freshman Mark Parks says that his most difficult subject was P.E., This was because he struggled to get himself motivated, and that affected how he played.

“I tried to be motivated,” said Parks. “Some days, I struggled with exhaustion some days, and I would just not want to be there.” 

Parks is a soccer player, so he thought that PE would be fun. He concludes that it is not the same.

“When in P.E., motivation is key,” said Parks. “You need to be able to push yourself to your max and not give up on yourself. If you have no motivation, you won’t get too far,” said Parks.

Others struggled in core subjects like economics, biology, and English 101.

LHS Senior Chris Bauer has had his struggles with economics and needs help grasping the concept. 

“Not getting the right help can make everything harder because every teacher has different requirements,” Bauer said. 

LHS sophomore Liam Burke struggled with biology and had trouble taking tests sometimes. 

Burke was absent from school for about two weeks while in Europe. If a student has not been in class to learn the material, it is hard to perform well on the test. 

“I kind of always struggled with biology,” said Burke. “When I was in Europe, I missed a lot of tests, assignments, and work. That made it hard to catch up.”
LHS junior Ethan Smith did not struggle much this year. He did well in all his classes, but his most difficult class was English 101. English 101 is a college writing class. 

The hardest part for him was all the essays they had to write in class.

“English was pretty easy for me, but there were a lot of essays that we had to write, and that could be difficult sometimes,” said Smith.

Parks said that the way he got himself to do well and pass in P.E. was to push himself as he does in soccer. 

Bauer said that he did more studying than anything because he did not know any other way that would be best for him to keep a good grade in that class.

Sometimes students only need their class time to get all their schoolwork done. 

Smith said that as long as he used his time wisely in class, he would be fine. 

“I would always just go to Mrs. Schaffer with any question because I knew that she would have the right advice for me,” said Burke.