On Thursday, December 4th, we followed Amelia Jones, and on December 11th, Lily Miller and Kaylee Stong followed each other around for the day. All are Lamphere High School seniors; the goal is to be able to capture their highs and lows of their day, along with how they handle things like co-op, school, dance, homework, and more. We did this experiment to show the community that an average day is not what you think. That sometimes, with being an upperclassman, there is a lot of freedom that can be very rewarding and fun, but with that, there is a lot of responsibility that can cause a lot of stress and exhaustion. We want to show all our hard-working students that they’re not alone, that all students deal with pretty much the same emotions. That it’s okay to acknowledge the headaches and sweat blood and tears that we put in an average day. Especially as a student who has to manage so much than just school work. So here is what Amelia’s, Lily’s, and Kaylee’s day typically looks like:
Ameila’s Day in the Life
“I got up at 6:10 this morning, then I got ready. I was definitely feeling ready for the day. Usually, in the morning when I wake up, I feel pretty awake and ready to take on my day. I left my house for co-op at 7:25. What’s going through my head on the way there is what all the stuff I have to do today, and just trying to mentally prep for the day. I do like to listen to music on the way to co-op and school. It depends on the mood of the day on what kind of music I listen to. Usually calm music, but sometimes I listen to musicals or, on rare occasions, upbeat stuff. I work at Simonds for co-op. Sometimes I’m excited about co-op, it depends on the day and what I’m gonna do. Today I cut out the laminate and made number lines, so not super exciting. Sometimes co-op can be stressful, definitely when stuff happens with the kids, it’s stressful for sure, and when the office is super busy. There are things that get me excited about co-op. I love seeing the kids, and they’re always excited to see me, so it’s really sweet. Then I left Co-op at 9:05. I went to Starbucks and got a gingerbread chai and an egg pesto and mozzarella sandwich. Getting Starbucks in the morning gets me really excited and obviously makes a little sparkle in my day.”
“When I got to school, I had a co-op meeting, so I went to that. It’s kinda annoying that I have to leave co-op early, and we never really do anything in the meeting. My third hour is BMI (with Mr. Macknis). Instead of doing work, I ran passes with Amari. I ran passes because I was bored and had nothing to do in class. Then I went to criminal justice (with Mr.Novak), and we did a worksheet about warrants. It really interests me, so I was super engaged. Then I tried the pumpkin cream, Alani, and I tasted it, and it tasted like straight poison. Then I made everyone else try it. It was very funny. I knew it was gonna be bad, but I didn’t think that bad, and seeing everyone’s reactions was so funny. Then I went to the Fifth hour, which is AP LIT(with Mrs Martin), we started FRQ 3s. It was very confusing and kinda hard. We had to write so much, and I didn’t really understand what she was asking us for. Then I went to stats (with Mr. Came), where we took notes and started a project. The class was boring, I’m not really a math person, and whenever we do notes, it’s super boring.”
Then I had a dance. It was our coach’s (Karra Hurkett) birthday, so of course we celebrated it. We worked on the competition pom dance. This time of the season is always stressful and hard, but it pays off. Then I went home, and it feels good, it’s nice to be able to relax after a long day. I then had some spaghetti and garlic bread for dinner, and watched some YouTube. YouTube is definitely a way to destress. It’s something I can do without having to use my brain, and it helps me just unwind after a long day. I got in the shower and finished getting ready for bed. I usually go to bed around 10:30/11:00. I go to bed at this time because it gives me time to get homework done and eat dinner, and then destress. I like to have some alone time in my room at the end of the day. “ – Amelia Jones, LHS 2026 Senior
Lilly’s Day in the Life
“I woke up at 5:45 this morning and scrolled through TikTok for a good 20-30 mins while I continued to wonder if I should get up or not when i actually got up for the day i was feeling kinda lazy so i through my hair up in a messy bun then i got dressed into a crew neck and legging then i made sure that i took my makeup out of my dance bag from tuesdays game and made sure i had everything for pictures later around like 6:30 i woke both my sisters up for school theni usually go downstairs and eat breakfast witch today was cereal and i watch youtube while im eating at around 6:50 i wake my dad up to take me and my sister to school i get my shoes on and make sure my backpack is packed for school and my croombooks in there and usually around 7:00 my dad will start the car to warm it up that takes a couple of minutes so we leave between 7:05-7:10 on the way to school every morning we turn on the radio and listen to whatevers on the radio this is the time that i start regretting getting out of bed.”
“I arrive at school at 7:20 and i hate the cold so i try to get inside as quikly as i can then i walk to my locker and grab my stuff and head to Ms. Mouw room for forensic science and today we had a free day witch i was really happy about and i actually dint have anything to do so i got to play games all hour the next class i have is marketing and we where working on our door witch i personally feel stressed out because i feel like my groups not really doing anything. Then I went to the third hour, and it was news staff, Kaylee, and I talked for a while about random stuff like we usually do then i went to fourth hour, and its criminal justice with Mr. Novak and it was a sub and we did senrios i like seniros but i like vocab more in that class but it still was a good hour then it was lunch i eat bosco sticks and watched titktok. After lunch, I went to fifth hour which is AP Lit with Mrs. Martin and we did some FRQ work, which was really hard for me, and I took a lot of time reading the article and I only got like 2 paragraphs done by the end of the hour, which isn’t really that good, and it made me more stressed for the final. I have the same teacher for my sixth hour, so I just moved my stuff to a different table. That class is lit to film. I really like this class after AP LIT. I feel like since we mostly watch movies, I can’t just relax before dance and not do anything crazy hard. After the sixth hour, I went to my locker, grabbed my stuff, and then went home. I usually have to wait for my sister to get in the car because she takes forever and right now since my dads not working because hes using some of his vacation time before the new year as he has to many days to carry over until next year he takes us home sometimes its my mom or sometimes i dont get picked up till after practice because some days practice is right after school.”
“I got ready for pictures for the winter season i did my makeup and my hair then i made sure i had my uniform all ready and i was really stressed out on time because im someone who dosnet like to be late to anything so im usually early and i left my house went back to the school i arived back at the school at like 3:30 went to the bathroom to put my uniform on and did some final touches i took my pictures and the team pictures got ready in the locker room for practice and then went to practice practice for the most part went good now that its comp season it harder then it was for football season and the dances are harder to. Practice went better than it sometimes does, but the comp routines were really hard. We ended practice around 7:00. I didn’t leave until a little later because we have to push back the tables in the cafeteria where we practice.”
“When i get home from pratice im really hungry so i eat a snack before dinner today i ate some hot dogs witch in house we dont really eat a lot of meat we mostly eat pasta (like buttered noodles,spagetti and macaroni ) and some of these meals my parents will like incorporate some meat but not a lot After dinner, and went in my room chilled for a little bit watched some secret lives of mormon wives witch this show is so intersting to watch and some moments are funny so i really enjoy watching this show then as my parents left they where going to look at furniture for our new house that my parents just bought i personally im really exited because im finally getting my own room but the process is long and where trying to get to be living fully in this house before christmas. After, i was done relaxing i fished my FRQ that i dint like and i packed up some of my room for the next time i go over to our new house and i finished some homework for lit to film then i took a shower i really like showers because the water is always so warm because i turn it on to the hottest it can go after my shower i brush my teeth and put my retainer in after the shower im usually cold but it also dosent help that most of my pjs are shorts because i personally would much rather sleep in shorts then pants. And when i go in my room normally at night my little sister is usually on the phone witch i personally find annoying as i cant fall asleep if theres noise but i do fall asleep with the tv on so i guess its just loud noise that i cant fall asleep to but after i tell her to shut up and we fight for a little bit i put my phone in the charger and go to bed and the time that this happened is 11:00 -11:30.”
Kaylee’s Day in the Life
“I woke up at 6 AM. Usually, I like to toss and turn in my bed and set an alarm to wake back up at 6:15 AM, but today was different. I jumped out of bed ready to start my morning, but I was still pretty tired, though. I left my room, and my house was freezing cold. I brushed my teeth and washed my face, which I actually enjoy washing my face in the morning, because splashing the cold water on my face definitely helps wake me up. I go back to my room and finish getting ready for the day. Before I leave my room, I go and feed my fish their breakfast. I then go upstairs and set my backpacks down in my living room. I then make my mom’s morning coffee, so she won’t be cranky. I then help my mom with whatever she needs help with in the morning, like packing my brother’s lunch, feeding are dog, and getting my two brothers up. When I go and wake up my two-year-old brother up, it’s like pulling teeth. He is not a morning person at all. When I go to wake him up and ask Alexa to stop playing his lullaby music, he wakes up saying “nooooo” and “stoopppp”. I try to be patient with him and tell him good morning, buddy, and slowly try to take his blanket off. He just snatched the blanket and put it right back over his head. Eventually, I do get him up, after he lets out some tears. Then I try waking up my thirteen-year-old brother, and you think it would be easier than the two-year-old. Wrong, he is also hard to wake up, but after hollering at him and turning the bedroom light on, he will get up. Then I went to check outside if it had snow, because usually I wipe the snow off the car, but thankfully it had not. I went outside to take everything out to the car. Yes, it had not snowed, but the ground was sure slippery with ice. I walk carefully out to the car, and it is absolutely freezing cold. Even with earmuffs, a coat, and gloves, a scarf, it is still freezing. I make sure to heat up the car, so by the time my mom and two brothers get out of the car, they are warm. Now I’m ready to go to school for the day.”
“On the car ride to school, I hook my phone up to the car and play some hype 2010s pop music. I do this kind of music because I do feel gloomy in the mornings. So it helps raise my spirit and stay positive for the day. I get to school, and while I’m walking to my locker, I’m making mental notes on what I need to get done and how I’m gonna need to stay on task and productive for the day. I then go to first hour, which is business law, with Mr Sharrard. We do an assignment on Taylor Swift and her music getting stolen. I loved this assignment and thought it was very interesting. Like most people do I like Taylor Swift, so the assignment was very engaging. Then I have marketing, also with Mr Sharrard. You may think having the same teacher two classes in a row is a lot and makes the two hours feel longer, but it’s actually the opposite. Plus, Mr Sharrard is the goat, so I don’t mind. In the class, we work on our teacher’s Christmas door. We got quite a bit of work done; it was definitely a lot of work, though. I’m not always the most crafty person, so crafts can for sure stress me out a bit. While we were working on our doors, my group went down to the main office to get pictures of teachers’ and staff’s faces for our door. Once we got back, it was almost ram time. During ramtime, I try to use the time to get unfinished work done or just take a brain break. Today was a brain break kinda day. After that, I went to third hour, which is Newstaff, with Mrs Villerot. I truly love this class a lot, some days the workload is more than others, but I wouldn’t change a thing about it. I worked on my story of the week, and then also proofread other people’s work. Sometimes proofreading can be a little hard. Especially if there’s more than one story you have to read through, it can be hard to try and stay focused without letting your mind wander off and daydream. Once third hour is over, I have lunch. To be honest, I don’t really like having A lunch, I don’t really have the biggest appetite, and it feels like it’s morning still. During lunch, I also like to give myself a brain break. I either watch TikToks or a show on Netflix or something like that. I use this time to recharge, so I can power through the rest of my day. After lunch, I have anatomy and physiology fourth hour, with Ms Mouw. This class can also be challenging at times, because we do learn a lot of information quickly, but I love the class so much. I find learning all things about the body gets me excited and helps motivate me to take care of myself better. In the class, it makes me realize how fragile the body actually is and that everything is so specific for a certain reason. Today in class, we had a quiz on the heart. Luckily, I’ve been studying the information a lot at home, so the quiz felt like a breeze while taking it. Following that, I had fifth hour, which is AP Lit, with Mrs Martin. While I was walking to class, someone reminded me that today we were gonna do a cold write. It honestly killed my mood after taking that anatomy quiz I felt good about, and it’s not that I don’t like writing. I do, it’s lately I have been less confident in my writing. So I went to class, and I did the cold write, and to be truthful, I did struggle with it. Not necessarily the writing aspect of it, but trying to analyze and understand the text I was reading. I felt like I was really trying to understand it, and it made me feel bad about myself. I probably should have asked the teacher for some help, but I wanted to be able to do it on my own. So by the time class was over, I was only halfway done writing the essay. I tried not to beat myself down about it, but it was hard not to, especially watching my other classmates do fine with the assignment. Lastly, I went to sixth hour, which is theater, with Mrs Peltier. Today, the play Tracks was running. So I just studied my lines for Mythunderstood and worked on some of my work for my other classes. It was nice to have the class period to get things that needed to be done, and be able to study my lines, because our class plays are like a month away from now. I’m excited for the class plays, but I really need to lock in.”
“After school, I got into my Papa’s truck. Also, in the morning, I left my dance backpack in my mom’s car and asked if she could take it to my grandparents’ house. So my Papa could bring it in the car when he gets me. The backpack had things like makeup and a bunch of other stuff to get ready, because I have my winter sports school pictures at 4 pm today. So as we drove to pick up my brother, who gets out of school at 2:55, I got ready in the car and did my makeup, and fixed up my hair. I don’t like to do my makeup in the car, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. I had to be very steady with my hands, so in case we turned or stopped, I wouldn’t smear it all over my face. Finally, we get my brother and head back home. As I got home, there was a bouquet of flowers, and I realized that my dog, who passed away last week, ashes are delivered today. It was kinda of sad, but I had to remind myself that I have to stay productive and not get set back on time. After that, I ran to my bedroom and grabbed my basketball uniform and grabbed a quick snack, and ran out of the house. Before I get back to the school, I run into CVS to grab some makeup wipes for after the pictures, and when I mean I ran into the store, I literally ran. The CVS was also very busy, which is weird because it’s never busy. As I was tapping my foot impatiently in the line. I noticed some watermelon sourpatch kids and grabbed them, because I could use a little bit of sugar right now. Finally, I got the two things and got myself out of the store and back into the truck. We get back to school, and go inside and get my uniform on and is ready to go, and I’m feeling hyped today about pictures and practice. After pictures were done, I got ready for practice, and was very motivated to get a lot of work done today. Practice ended up being good; it was certainly exhausting, though. We were working on our competition dances, and this year I feel like I’m being challenged a lot technique-wise and stamina-wise, but with that, I love a challenge, and I feel like if we work hard practicing these dances, they’re gonna be truly awesome. Throughout the dances, I just reminded myself that I got this and to keep pushing myself, and that if I truly want to physically be able to do this dance, I have to train my mindset for it. After practice, my papa came to pick me up. Usually it’s my mom who picks me up from practice, but today my brother had a band concert. After practice, I was feeling very out of it and gross and ready to go to bed. I got home, and took a shower, and then made myself a bowl of cereal for dinner. I then called my boyfriend and talked to him for a little bit and iced my body from practice, and did some school work. By this time, it was around 9 o’clock, I set like ten alarms to wake me up in the next hour. I fell asleep for a nap very quickly, but it felt like a blink, and I woke up from my alarm at 10:15 pm. I got up and got ready for bed and set out my clothes for tomorrow, and packed my lunch for the next day. I like to have things ready to go and set out for the next day, because it makes my mornings easier. Then I fed my fishies their dinner, which watching the fish go and eat brings me some joy, and then I watched some TikTok to let myself relax a little bit. I fell asleep around 11:15.”
Thank you to everyone who was a part of this article, and for showing us the highs and lows of your day, and also for showing us what your day typically looks like, and for being vulnerable and honest through this experiment. Senior year feels like a roller coaster, with a lot of responsibility and feeling exhausted and ready to finish up the school year. This is what it looks like on an average school day for a high school senior, from multiple points of view. We hope this article reaches out to any high school student in general to remind them they’re not alone. Especially this time of the year, the days can feel extra long and also feel like they mush together, and it’s hard to keep up. Remember that you got this, and it’s okay to feel overwhelmed, stressed, or bored, and etc. Just try to take a step back and try to relish in all the positives of your day, and be proud to just be able to get through another day. High school goes faster than you think, so try to get through your days with the best attitude toward them.
