Second semester brings challenges to every student. You can taste the blissfully sweet days of June coming, but they are not quite here yet. Around this time of the year, senioritis curses every grade and focusing on schoolwork seems impossible when homework-free beach days are on everyone’s mind.

Students especially have trouble withstanding March because every week of school is a five-day week. Instead of rising to the occasion, students have alternate ways to cope with the school schedule.

Gone are the beach bound three-day weekends, until spring break that is. Sometimes that is just how things work out. But how can one “take notes” through another PowerPoint presentation when the next break waits for us all the way in April?

Well Lancers, we must persevere. A break every now and then is essential to our sanity, but waving the white flag now is futile. We dragged through too many weeks to stop now.

Unfortunately, students are choosing to get acai bowls over going to class because the long haul between February and April seems too exhausting. If we give up on Shakespeare or drop the ball on logarithms, there will only be chaos later when finals come around. This part of the semester separates the champions from the slackers.

At least we have late start days to catch up on that extra hour of sleep. Also the freshmen, juniors and seniors were given two glorious days begin at 11:30 while the sophomores take the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE). These days also help us catch up and finish the homework you skipped to watch the newest “Modern Family”.

Also, if you would rather go to Starbucks to for a morning caffeine pick-me-up,take advantage of the late start and save yourself the tardy.

Think of it this way: we have 21 days of school in March and five of them are late start. We do not need to have those five extra days, but we are granted the extra hour to sleep. These eternal March days seem more bearable when you utilize each late start day.

Focus on plans for the weekend or late start days, and get your homework done. That’s right. Turn off Netflix *gasp* and close your Instagram *shriek.*

Despite your anxiety, all those throwbacks and selfies will be resting in your feed when your homework is done. But when school overwhelms you and you just want two hours of extra sleep rather than going to first period…

Suck it up. You will be fine.