From Theatre club to National Art Honor Society, Kinz Klatt a sophomore at Northwest High School does it all. Through the many hours and many frustrating moments she still has been able to make friends and create a multitude of memories. She shares her experiences and how she deals with stress and negative thoughts. 

What is your name, and what grade are you in? 

Kinz Klatt and I’m in tenth grade. 

And how do you spell that? 

K i n z  K l a t t. 

What all do you do for school before and after school? 

I help with tutoring on Thursdays. I do National Honor Society, National Art Honor Society, Student Senate, Grizzlies for Change, Forensics, Debate, and Theatre.

How much time would you say this all takes outside of a normal school day? 

Um, so it depends on the week, but usually theater takes till five. So it takes a lot, so I’ll be here from seven to five, which is 10 hours. I’m at school for 10 hours.

Would you say you’ve gained quite a bit of work doing stuff on top of normal school work?

Yeah, I have to manage social media accounts, I have to text people what’s going on, and I have to plan meetings. 

Why have you decided to put so much effort into these essentially non-essential things?

Because I thought that it would be super fun, and it is. It’s super ultra, mega fun. 

And I can imagine this takes your schedule quite full. And how are you able to properly manage your schedule? 

Um, I set aside time to do certain things, so, like, I set aside an hour a day to study for AP by specifically. Then I have an hour to study for any other classes that I need to. I just do my extracurriculars when I have time when it’s outside of the actual club meetings. So like when I have to manage social media accounts, I just do that when I wake up in the morning. Sometimes I do it during lunch; I give up my lunch periods where I like and won’t eat from seven to five. 

How has being so involved in other things, like, helped you in other aspects of your life? 

I’ve gotten more social. I’ve definitely gained a higher network of friends, and I’m able to communicate better with others. I don’t feel as anxious. I used to have really bad social anxiety, but joining all of these clubs really helped me, like, open up. 

So you said you’ve made, like, a ton of friends doing these types of things? 

Yeah

But if you could, if you were able to change anything about your schedule—adding time, taking away time—what would you say you would change? 

I would drop AP by a low key that takes up so much time. 

Would you want to? Would you say you’d want to add time that you could spend with other people? Or do you think you’re pretty content with the time you already spend with friends and family? 

I would love to add more time, because some weeks I feel like I don’t see my family at all or like I don’t hang out with my friends. And I also want to join, like, more clubs, but I can’t because I’m already doing so much. 

So is it with you wanting to join more clubs? Does that come from a state of wanting to be more involved, or does it come from a need to keep myself busy? 

It’s kind of both; being busy has definitely helped with my mental health, but also, I just love being involved. I love doing things, and I have so many interests that I just want to find a club for every single one of them. But I can’t do that because I have to have time for myself as well. 

Is it stressful at all? 

Yeah, especially when I have to study for my AP bio, and like my other heavy classes, I have that on top of my seven extracurriculars. 

So, between all this chaos, do you have time to take care of yourself properly?

Sometimes, it’s definitely bad; sometimes my mental health definitely tanks, but I try to make the mornings about myself, like, I’ll wake up at 430 in the morning, and until six, it’s just about me; I’ll go work out; I’ll make myself breakfast. I’ll make myself lunch. I don’t talk to anyone. It’s just me. 

And obviously, with this obscene, if I may say, amount of clubs, obviously you will get overwhelmed and stressed out. How do you say you manage that type of feeling? 

Usually I don’t really get anxious because I’ll use coping strategies. I’ll write down a list of things that I have to do, and if I’m super overwhelmed with it, I’ll write down the amount of time it should generally take. So, like, this piece of homework should take 10 minutes. And I’ll write that down so I become, like, less overwhelmed and I can section it out.

So, if someone came to you and was like, “Out of all the extra things that you are currently doing, which one would you recommend me?” What would you say?

I love forensics personally, like I feel like it has something for everyone—there’s acting, there’s performing, there’s informing. There’s so much of it that you can do that I think anyone would be interested in something.

What if someone doesn’t have much time and they could only join something that involved only being at school? What would you recommend for them to join?

I’d stay student senate; it doesn’t take that much time you come in during your hour on Wednesdays, and then the only thing that takes any time outside of school is after homecoming in before Hoco, so it takes the least amount of time. All of my gloves were from the National Honor Society, and they only do the Coffeehouse.

Do you have anything else you’d like to add?

Please join Grizzlies for Change.