Katie Holderer, Freshman  

It’s no secret that high school is stressful. Especially as a freshman, it was a big change going from middle school to high school. Homework increases, work is harder, and finding a balance between academics, sports, and maintaining a social life becomes a constant juggling act. But how do we manage all of these truly?

When it comes to academics in high school, everyone will tell you it’s the most important thing to maintain, which is partly true. I mean, with a good academic record throughout high school, you certainly open doors for prestigious universities and scholarships. However, a GPA is just a number on a page; it doesn’t demonstrate your leadership skills, your passions, or the resilience you build outside the classroom.

Balancing academics is probably one of the hardest things you have to do in high school, but the first thing that you can do to help with that is to find a schedule that works for you. 

Finding a schedule can be hard, especially with sports and extracurricular activities, but you just need to build good time management. 

Time management is a skill you’ll need for the rest of your life, and high school is a great time to start. 

Start prioritizing tasks. If you have a huge test in your math class tomorrow, but four papers of biology homework. Find what you want to prioritize first.

Along with this, you’re going to need to avoid procrastinating. I know we all do it, but it isn’t a good habit to have. 

When procrastinating, you will ruin the schedule that was built for you. When you’re scrolling on your phone, watching a video, you could be studying for the test you have in two days. Or you could be doing your math homework that’s due tomorrow. 

Try creating a nice study space. You could incorporate your favorite colors, a nice chair, a cute houseplant, anything you wish!

Many say that when being in a nice study space, their productivity boosts, their focus improves, and they reduce their mental fatigue, mainly because of the minimized distractions.

Along with just having good study habits and time management and whatnot, you also need to prioritize health. 

When wanting to reduce high school stress, you want to ensure that you get 8-12 hours of sleep each night, exercise daily, eat well, and also limit caffeine. 

When getting a good amount of sleep, your brain processes emotions, consolidates memories, and repairs neural pathways.

During REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, the brain processes emotional experiences. Without it, the amygdala-the brain’s emotional center-becomes more reactive, leading to irritability, anxiety, and overwhelmed feelings. 

When exercising, you lower your body’s stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline while increasing endorphin production, which are natural brain chemicals that improve mood and act as natural painkillers. Regular physical activity also acts as a meditation in motion, reducing anxiety, improving sleep quality, and building self-confidence.

Overall, when building effective study habits, getting good time management skills, and producing a healthy lifestyle, you will be able to manage high school stress easily, giving you the best outcomes that could come to you.