As the Science Fair deadline creeps closer, the yearly rush to complete this monstrous task is accompanied by copious amounts of stress, procrastination and all nighters. Despite warnings from every science teacher and every missed deadline, many students leave the Science Fair stress until the very night before.

The Science Fair, a series of presentations usually on tri-fold boards, is currently in display at North Atlanta in the first floor multi-purpose room.

Picture this: It’s two in the morning, there’s funkadelic music playing in the background as Red Bull cans hit the floor, pushed by the absurd lightspeed force of your fingers typing the keyboard. With four hours left before it’s time to get ready for school, the tri-fold board, which holds endless potential and forty-five percent of your grade, is looking terribly empty.

Junior Sarah Tory says the Science Fair just isn’t important enough to do before her other assignments. “It just isn’t important to me,” she said. “I have way more work to do and I’m not going to do something that isn’t important to me.”

As far as stress is concerned, Tory maintains a carefree approach. “It’s hard to stress about something you just don’t care about.”

On the contrary, junior Aniya Sellers is a true believer in the event and she said believes that the science fair is is very important to her success. “I was very stressed because I knew it was a very big part of my grade and I didn’t have time to do it,” she said. “I had other work to do, a job, and no time for the science fair.”

The universal need to procrastinate is accompanied by feelings of sadness, guilt, and stress. It is one of the main reasons why students fail, but there must be a way to solve this epidemic. Sellers believes the key to solving the procrastination problem is found in planning. “I advise everyone to invest in a planner, they are the most helpful things I’ve ever bought,” she said.

The annual race to finish the Science Fair project is a communal effort of which every student feels the struggle. From Red Bull to Earth, Wind and Fire to Brenton Wood, each student copes differently. The good news is, there are 11 stories of students who can relate.