For most high school students, pressing snooze, laying in bed an extra five minutes, and sometimes even skipping first hour are all very common practices. 

However, this is not the case for senior Marissa Lunt, who has been waking up an hour earlier than all of her fellow peers in order to fit in an extra hour of singing before the rest of the school even starts pouring into the parking lot. 

“I started [having a zero hour] my sophomore year,” Marissa said. “I wanted to do it because the environment and the community in general of zero hour choir are super fun, and everybody’s nice to each other. Especially early in the morning, no one seems to be grumpy, and it’s a good way to start my day off in the morning.”

Given that Marissa has been in zero hour for the past three years, it’s safe to say she is qualified to speak on the ups and downs of having an extra class every day compared to the average student. 

The biggest question that is always asked when someone mentions zero hour is “how do you wake up that early?” Marissa explains that it is definitely a struggle; however, there are a lot of ways to ensure your morning isn’t rushed, and that way, you can make it to school on time. 

“There are a couple of different ways that help me make it to school on time,” Marissa said. “For the most part, it’s little things like laying out my clothes the night before, then I don’t feel rushed. If I get a good night’s sleep, then I’m more up and ready to go. So, going to bed early is a good thing for me to do. Another thing is being prepared for the next day, so you can avoid as much stress in the morning as possible.” 

Similarly to Marissa, senior Carter Lyons has also taken a zero hour; however, rather than waking up early to go and sing, Carter wakes up and hits the weight room. 

Overall, Carter explains that his experience with zerohour strength and conditioning was a positive experience, although he probably wouldn’t do it again if he can avoid it. 

“If you’re a morning person, then I would definitely recommend [taking a zero hour] because you get that extra class done early in the morning, and then you can be productive for the rest of your day,” Carter explains. “But, in my opinion, after I took my zero hour the first time, I didn’t feel like taking one ever since, because—at least with strength and conditioning—you could just take that class during a normal hour throughout your day, but if you really enjoy the class, then waking up early is a small price to pay.” 

In fact, the worst part about taking zero hour strength and conditioning for Carter had nothing to do with waking up early, but rather the limited amount of time they had after the class was over. 

“I remember when we were in class after we were done with conditioning, the most embarrassing thing is going to first hour very sweaty,” Carter said. “You are paranoid out of your mind thinking if you smell okay or not. I always felt like I needed to go home and take a shower. Sometimes, I actually would leave school to go take a shower because they just don’t give you enough time to get ready.”

Fellow classmate junior Madi Evans also took strength and conditioning as a zero hour, and she agrees with a lot of what Carter had to say. 

However, it was Madi’s determination in the weight room that brought her back two years in a row before the sun could even have a chance to rise. 

“When I joined strength and conditioning as a freshman, I made the green club,” Madi said, “which was a big accomplishment as a freshman. After that, I made it a goal of mine to make it all the way [to] gold club, and by sophomore year, my best friend and I both became the first girls to ever make it into gold club.”

This was a major accomplishment for Madi, and even after this, she continued to have very impressive PRs within the class of mostly boys. 

“[Coach Tim] Rogers used to say this quote: ‘We are like the army. We do more before 8 a.m. than most people do their entire day,’ and that line really stuck with me, and working out became a huge part of my day,” Madi said. “Getting my body moving before anyone was even awake felt really good, and then the rest of my day, I felt good about myself.”