Each day in the spring, Stamford High School students Michael Buzzeo and Trevor Kane wake up, go to school, go to baseball practice, go home, eat dinner, do homework and go to bed. And even with that busy schedule, they feel they are the lucky ones.

Both said their schoolwork comes first, before baseball and other sports. But both resisted filling their schedules with only honors and advanced placement classes. Throughout their four years in high school, guidance counselors pushed the two student athletes to take such courses. But both said no in an effort to maintain balance in their lives.

“It was eat dinner or take an AP class,” Michael says, explaining his decision not to take an AP class during his junior year. Trevor agrees, saying, “I didn’t want to overwhelm myself."

As the two seniors finish up at Stamford High before heading off to college, they said they feel it was the right decision. Michael and Trevor say they are comfortable with their workload decisions and say they have many friends who do nothing but study. “They’re not fun to hang out with anymore,” Trevor says, adding that they are “robotic.”

Discussions have cropped up since the release of the documentary, “Race to Nowhere,” about the large amount of schoolwork and activities for kids. Vicki H. Abeles, a mother concerned with her own kids’ stressful lives, made the documentary in an effort to shed light on a national problem. She also calls for change in the film, suggesting such actions as putting an end to homework.  

Do you think students overwork themselves? What do you think is the best strategy to get into college? Share your thoughts and experiences below or send them to reporter Anthony Buzzeo at .