Creating a stress free second semester

   A new year means a new semester and for many students new classes, which can cause stress and anxiety. New teachers and classes can cause anxiety and lots of stress for students. In new classes, there are often different expectations and many students set high goals for the second semester in order to finish out the school year on a strong note.  

  “Students often get stressed out due to expectations that are new to them because they weren’t set forth sooner,” said English teacher Safiya Thorne. 

  Stress can affect everyone differently, which can be positive or negative.  It can help you get ready for something like being on top of school work, or a date, or a competition. It can also be crippling. Many different things beyond school can cause stress, but many teens feel that school is one of the most stressful things about their lives. One big factor for many students is homework because it adds on to the stress of school.

   “Homework can help stress (but) in some ways it can add stress, and as a math teacher, I get asked that all the time, well, why do you give homework? Well actually, if I don’t give homework. It adds stress because students don’t have enough practice,” math teacher Mark Jacobson said.

   School can cause a lot of stress and if there is too much stress or pressure some may fall into depression. According to the National Institute on Mental Health, stress can disrupt a person’s healthy coping mechanisms. Without these healthy coping mechanisms students can become debilitated by depressed and unable to combat stress in a healthy manner. 

  Students have learned to deal with stress in many different ways, some healthier than others.  Junior Christian Perez deals with stress with “caffeine and video games.” 

Junior Olivia Merg deals with stress by “taking a minute to focus on myself and not what is stressing me out. I’ll draw, or I will watch Netflix or YouTube or I’ll go on a walk or I’ll eat something.” 

   These things can help, but friends and family are also good coping mechanisms.   Talking to friends about stress can be very helpful and can help people relieve stress. 

  “I actually try to go to bed and I talk to my friends about it,”  freshman Mara Tapasa said, this is good thing to do.

    “Know your limits and set them. Set goals, write things down, do what you can at the time, and don’t overextend yourself,” said Thorne, “I was a high school student where I did everything and anything, I did school, I did sports, I did extracurricular activities for class counsel. I extended myself and it was stressing me out.” 

   Knowing your limits is extremely important so that you do not become too overwhelmed and stressed which can often result in falling behind on work or losing connections with friends.

   Teachers, counselors and campus monitors try to help students as much as possible to help them succeed and improve their high school experience. Counselors often have the best advice for dealing with stress, so don’t be afraid to talk to them.  

  School Counselor Hannah Anderson helps students deal with stress on a weekly basis.   Her advice for students is to “Set small, manageable goals like breaking things into like really manageable pieces for students so that they’re not overwhelmed looking at the big picture”. 

   According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, three good ways to deal with stress are to get plenty of sleep, give yourself a break and to eat healthy, well-balanced meals. So, try to maintain a healthy lifestyle this semester with less stress.  Take a walk, play some video games, chat with a friend, or just do something that makes you happy.