Niekos Whitney '26 Recruiting Profile

I absolutely love to play and watch soccer. Instead of talking more about this passion, I have included a satirical essay I recently composed for AP Language. I thought it was a funny take on balancing school and living the soccer life. 

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TIME for Kids

3 Bryant Park, 6th Floor

New York, NY 10036

May 11, 2025

Dear Editor,

With respect to the article “Do Kids Need Homework?,” published on January 19, 2023, I firmly agree with both Pradyun and Isla, who detailed the benefits of homework for students. I was appalled at the opinions of the other debate respondents who advocated for no homework policies across school age groups. These individuals are clearly unaware of the value of homework, especially for high school students.

As a high school junior that has never received any type of “B” in the grade book, from my personal experience, I think students need more homework and workload. Currently, I sit at 6th rank in the whole 2026 class at Center Grove High School and have yearned for more work to do outside of class throughout the year. Frankly, I know I haven’t received enough homework or sacrificed enough of my time to really educate myself in the vast academic fields that my school has to offer. Students, including myself, need to focus more on school rather than on insignificant other parts of their lives including sports and their families.

Because I always have at least one, and sometimes three, soccer games per weekend, many of which are out of state, I am thrilled when the teacher puts a math packet on my desk on Friday morning that is due at the beginning of the next week’s class. Just the mere thought of having to worry about how I am going to get the packet done builds inner fortitude, and the sleep deprivation that results from finishing it builds athletic performance in my games. I am relieved to have something else to worry about because, without homework, I might just relax and enjoy myself, which would be a terrible waste of valuable learning time. I am glad when I wake up on Saturday morning that I have a magnificent opportunity to make a wonderful decision on whether I want to do homework before my game on Saturday or whether I want to do homework after the game on a Saturday night. In fact, I think on Saturdays I shouldn’t just play my sport, soccer, and enjoy myself; I should be thinking about my math homework all day because I enjoy it so much. Unfortunately, I can’t always enjoy my Saturday’s as much as I want to because, sometimes, I don’t have math homework, which is exactly the problem with school, not enough homework, especially on weekends. I’m advocating for teachers to make sure that students always have homework because students should constantly have the opportunity to further their education rather than focus on other things that are not important. 

Speaking of unimportant engagements, my extended family routinely gathers together each Sunday and, sometimes, for a full week during the summer. During these gatherings, they make traditional meals together, idle in a park or on the beach, and talk about trivial matters. Seeing all of this indolence throughout my childhood makes me extremely grateful to have other academic commitments requiring me to exclude myself from such unproductive activities. This is the precise reason why I grin with glee in my plastic chair when I am told in 10th period on Thursday that I have an AP Biology test on Monday. Having the opportunity to think about the test throughout Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, then studying for the test on Sunday, makes me feel certain that I will not turn out like my slothful relations. I don’t want to become one of those people who goes camping or goes out to dinner with my family and skips out on learning basic life skills, like those acquired in AP Biology or Calculus. In fact, assigning an inadequate amount of homework is a great failure on the part of teachers because schoolwork needs to constantly be on a student’s mind. Even when spending time with family, there should be a baseline level of worry about academic matters. For example, when a student’s mom is droning on about the beauty of the green leaves sprouting in the spring at the campground, a student should only worry about how chloroplasts are harvesting the energy of the sun in a process called photosynthesis. If a student is not always obsessing about school, then the student won’t achieve their maximum potential as a human being. 

After all, the countless hours of an elite student’s life spent on schoolwork is rewarded graciously with the pride of a high GPA. At the end of this semester, I will be sitting in my house full of plumbing, carpentry, and various other things of which I have no clue how to build, make, or repair. On an Ipad that I couldn’t tell you how runs, using WI-FI that I also couldn’t explain, and logging into Skyward through the “internet,” I will be happy that this made-up number labeled as my “GPA” will increase from a 4.759 to a 4.813 because it really gives me an advantage in the real world after school ends. I will be glad that I did my math homework instead of going out and swimming in my pool on a beautiful day. I am certain everyone that doesn’t take full advantage of their high school education will regret not sitting inside and doing their math homework instead of enjoying time playing sports, spending time with family and friends, or even just relaxing.