With the school year winding down, the amount of work is going up for many students.  For choir students, this week is one of the most hectic of the entire year. Fresh off a choir trip to Orlando, Florida that led to 3 days of school being missed, choir competed at UIL this week, missing even more school on Wednesday and Thursday.

“It’s caused me trouble because I’m behind on a lot of my schoolwork and I have to make up a bunch of tests and quizzes,” senior Nate Cottrell said.

Because the choir has missed so much school, many students are having a hard time fitting all their makeup work into their busy schedule.

“Spring is always a crazy time of year, but the scheduling was especially crazy this year with everything coming right on each other’s heels,” senior Anisha Srivastava said. “Especially since it’s the last week of the six weeks, which is always stressful with getting work in, trying to make up tons of missed work in a short time is extra stressful for us.”

Scheduling the trip so close to UIL competition was unavoidable, according to choir directors Bethany Green and Christoper Mason. The weekend before the competition was the only weekend that didn’t have multiple conflicts for students involved in other activities.

“We knew it would be hectic, but choir students are responsible and capable of getting everything done,” Green said. “I’ve told them to make sure to be at school early or stay after to talk to teachers and make up work, and to make sure they talk to teachers before they miss school, not after.”

Starting today though, choir students have no more time consuming events until pop show, which is the end of the year choir concert that consists of pop and rock music instead of traditional choral music.

“This week was hard, but after this we get to work on pop show, which is always really fun,” Cottrell said. “It’s kind of our reward for getting through the year and it’s completely worth all the stress of this week.”