en-us Copyright 2008 - All Rights Reserved. Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:53:57 GMT 15 By Terence Hillery, Andrew Antonucci, Jessica Contrera, Ashley Markowski
College and Grades College admission is stressful for many high school students with multiple applications to fill out, a painful waiting period to see if they’re accepted or rejected, and then finally choosing the college that they ultimately attend.   Senior Sarah Blinka’s stress about college started while she was deciding to which colleges she should apply.  “The applications were the least stressful part,” Blinka said.  “However, I did worry about my essays.  I applied to Georgetown early decision and was deferred.  I had to wait until April 1 to find out if I was into college.  The waiting period almost killed me.”   Students can send their applications to the colleges in December but not receive a decision letter until April.  Once the application is at the college or university, it is read by several staff members before a decision can be reached.  “The day before I found out, I went down to the counselor and started looking up other colleges because I was so afraid that I wasn’t going to get in anywhere.” Blinka handled her stress by attempting to avoid the topic of college altogether.  “I told everyone to not talk to me about college.” Blinka said.  “However, all my bad moods just brought me back to the topic of college.  I did blow up or have breakdowns at people a few times.  It was the worst experience of my life.”  Blinka also worked out a lot more than usual when she had extra time so that she wouldn’t be so focused on her stressful situation.  She also turned to television more often to occupy time.  Sarah will be attending Tufts University in Boston, MA this fall.  “You can be a really strong applicant and still not get into a lot of colleges for no reason which is really frustrating.” Senior Adam Will also utilized exercise to relieve his stress from school. “When I want to relax, I go to the YMCA and work out,” Will said.  Often times, students are stressed out by grades.  Whether it is keeping one’s grade point average up, acing an important test or even making it into the top percentages of the class, a student never rests when it comes to grades.   Will has found that keeping good grades can be stressful.   “There’s always that expectation to do your best.  If you screw up once, you are climbing uphill the rest of the quarter,” said Will.   Tests and exams also contribute to student stress.  The point values for these are usually much higher than homework, causing more anxiety to get better grades on tests.   “You have to do well to keep your grades up,” said Will. Parents have high expectations of their sons and daughters to do their absolute best in the classroom.  Sometimes, the expectations can become overbearing for their children.   “Sometimes my parents are pretty tough on me, but I think they take it a little too seriously.  They want me to make a 4.0, do well and get into a good college,” said Will.   Illness and Sports Making up missed work is often one of the most daunting, stressful jobs a student has to perform in high school.  Not only does he or she have to do the in-class work and homework from the previous day, but keep up with the current class work for up to seven classes.  With a little hard work, this task is attainable without too much stress for students who only miss one or two days of school.  But for those who miss extended numbers of school days, the stress caused by making up work is unfathomable. The easy solution to this situation is to just go to school.  Unfortunately, many students are forced to miss school due to circumstances beyond their control, such as illness. Take for example junior Shannon Davey, who recently missed extensive amounts of her classes for medical reasons. “I was hanging out with one of my friends and we were swinging on a rope in my barn.  Long story short, I fell, hit my head and got a concussion,” Davey said. “I wasn’t allowed to go back to school or do any of my work for a week.  When I received all the work I had missed I was so overwhelmed,” she said. “It was very stressful because not only did I have more homework than I could handle, it all took me longer than normal to finish because of the effects of the concussion.” Davey felt that most of her teachers were understanding of her situation and gave her extra time to finish her work.  “I can’t wait to be done making everything up,” she said. “I’ve never been this stressed in my life.”  Davey’s main stress reliever is playing soccer.  “I just love being outside and playing the game with my friends or family.  Whether it’s in my back yard, at practice or in a game, it helps me to clear my head,” she said.Some would argue that sports are designed to relieve stress, not create it.  This is not true, however, for many teens, including junior Julianna Libertin. “It can be very tough to balance academics and sports,” said Libertin. Jules has firsthand experience with this balance.  In the spring, she manages two hours of track practice and three hours of soccer practice every night in addition to her schoolwork.  Most of her weekends include both a track meet and a soccer game, sometimes even in different states. “I’m not the only one,” said Libertin.  “Many of my friends have to try to fit athletics into the rest of their life.” Many teens feel stressed out by over-participation in competitive athletics.  The consequences of this stress are not only mental but often physical. For instance, around three percent of female high school athletes like Libertin experience a stress fracture.  This injury, often caused by excessive exercising, is twice as likely to occur in athletes who exercise for more than 16 hours per week. Stress fractures are on the rise, thanks to a national trend in youngsters competing in year-round sports.  When athletes put strain on the same muscle groups and bones year round, injuries often result.   Like sports, Libertin also takes stress relief seriously.  When things stress her out, she often turns to friends for relief.  “They make you laugh,” said Libertin, “and allow you to forget about whatever is stressing you out.”  Libertin is also careful to address the causes of her stress.  “When I feel overwhelmed, I try to take deep breaths and figure out what’s stressing me out,” said Libertin. With a life as stressful as Libertin’s, many may wonder if she has a secret weapon in the stress relief department.  “Dumb movies,” said Libertin.  “The dumber, the better.” ]]> Mon, 20 Apr 2009 17:29:21 GMT