When I started this story, it was the first day of school. I looked around and saw carefree students equipped with new jeans and fresh notebooks. They had no homework, assignments, or looming quizzes. But this bliss never lasts.

Four times a year, grades are due. And in the final weeks of each term, the wheat and chaff are separated: those capable of pulling off an academic comeback rise, while those who are too lazy or overwhelmed cement their GPA into eternal damnation.

But what’s an academic comeback?

Simply put, it’s when students turn in late work, meet with teachers and retake tests to boost their grades before the term ends. The reasons for needing one vary—burnout from extracurricular activities, procrastination or the sheer amount of work that comes with high school.

The stress students face isn’t just anecdotal. According to the American Psychological Association, 31% of teens feel overwhelmed, and 30% report feeling depressed or sad as a result of stress. Of the 1,018 teens surveyed, 36% said they experience constant fatigue, and 23% admitted to skipping meals because of it. A more recent survey found that with every new generation, fewer teens report having stable mental health.

High school students don’t have mortgages to pay or credit card debt looming over them, yet here they are in the emotional trenches.

Take senior Joey Covey, for example. Joey proudly crowned himself an “academic weapon”. When asked what gives him the right to that title, he said, “In the last 10 days of the term, I saw my GPA jump from 0.26 to 3.6″.

How did he pull this off? His words: “No sleep, depression, crash-outs, and as a sacrifice, I broke up with my girlfriend”.

Senior Cam Pyrah chimed in, “No one could contact him for, like, two or three weeks. In other words, Joey gave up one bag to chase another”.

Cam spoke from experience, adding, “It’s a nonstop grind—nothing but homework. I’ve seen D’s and F’s turn into A’s and B’s”.

Sophomore Trent Weed described the feeling: “Before you pull one off, it’s scary and tense. But afterward, when everything’s turned in, it’s nothing but relief, happiness and excitement”.

Sophomore Koa Giles admitted procrastination often prompts his academic comebacks. “It’s work I just didn’t get done, so I cram in the last few weeks of the term”. Does it really work? “I think so. Last year, my fourth-term GPA went from 1.7 to 3.9″.

Joey’s 0.26 to 3.6 GPA jump, though? That’s legendary.

Yet, everyone interviewed said the stress of an academic comeback wasn’t anything new or insurmountable. Nearly all of them had pulled one off or at least considered themselves “academic weapons”.

Junior Jojo Boots, however, was the exception. When asked if she’d ever pulled off a comeback, she said, “Call me crazy, but I just keep up with the work all term. It makes the last week of the term easier and eliminates a lot of stress”.

OK, narc.

Corbyn Hansen compared the process to a famous sports moment: “It feels like when LeBron is down 3-1 and he comes back on that John, you feel me?”

Oh, I feel it.

“Hard work, dedication, belief. Man, clutch,” Hansen said. Truer words have not been spoken.

But like Vice News, I went inside this story to give you the most honest truth that could be derived from the topic. So? I turned this story in one whole term late. On the original deadline of Oct. 3, I wasn’t even finished. Now, as the semester ends in December, this story is finally reaching the paper, and it’s glorious.

Glorious because my report card is going to dawn that beautiful, majestic letter that brings a 4.0 even with the supremely poor timing.

The bread and butter of this story is this, we live in a school system that allows for academic comebacks. Know your teachers because they’re all different—some penalize late work more than others. Regardless, I implore you to utilize this system for your benefit and perform as many academic comebacks as you want because, in reality, what more do you need to know how to do in the real world than finagle through the system?