I wake up at 7:20 a.m., and for a brief moment, I begin to panic. But then I stop and think. What day of the week is it? Oh that’s, right, it’s Wednesday. Content, I roll over and attempt to get some more sleep.

For a lot of Langley students, late opening Wednesdays provide a time to complete procrastinated homework , come to school early and get extra help in a class, or catch up on some well-deserved sleep. McLean High School also has late opening Wednesdays which they call Highlander Time. Near the end of the year, for both schools, this luxury disappears.

Sometimes, though, it seems as if Langley students are spoiled with this privilege seeing as Madison High School doesn’t receive late opening Wednesdays.

“Madison doesn’t have Wednesday late openings. When I went to Langley, I liked sleeping in and being able to work with teachers for a full hour instead of just during Saxon Time. I would be really angry if the late openings got taken away during the school year. By the end of the year, I’m used to the late start; suddenly having to change my routine would mess up my week,” said Megan Swain, a junior at Madison High School.

Not only are late Wednesdays a great time for students to get help, but for a lot of teachers, they utilize that time to plan their classes. Having this taken away forces them to fit planning their lessons into their lives along with their personal lives, grading and actually teaching.

At the same time, however, giving kids an extra hour in the middle of the week when they have important test and when their minds are already focused on summer simply causes more distractions for them.

However, Ibrahim Jacobs, a senior at McLean did note that “it honestly is an unavoidable problem. The school can’t start an hour late during finals week or when kids are taking huge tests such as SOL’s or AP exams. The school acknowledges this and they know they can’t give us Highlander Time every Wednesday just as we know we can’t receive it”.

As fun and helpful as late opening Wednesdays are, having them stop right before finals gives us the ability to focus more on studying and daydream about summer later.