The ’24-25 school year. It’s upon us. Whether we like it or not, it comes with pressure. Stress in the school environment continues to plague students by way of college applications, AP classes, heavy workloads and even missing classes due to illness, injury, and a multitude of other reasons.
Stress is inevitable during the school year and it persists as a constant in life. However, it does become a problem when students are experiencing heightened levels of stress and it starts to impact their mental health in detrimental ways. Stress, if it becomes chronic, present over a prolonged period, can impact your mental health by causing depression and deteriorating your physical health. Therefore, the real question is; How can we combat this stress impacting our student population?
When asked about their stress levels, many upperclassmen students replied to questions with a resounding high level of overall stress. Alice Hollett (‘25) put their level of stress at 110%, the highest answer from those interviewed. Juliana Iannetta (‘26) does concur that stress is at an overall high earlier in the school year, ranking her stress at an 8/10, but not comparable to finals week stress. A freshman interviewed has a bit of a different experience with this stress affecting the beginning of the school year. Ace McIntosh (‘28) describes their stress at a low level at the beginning of the school year, noting that they have a friend group and that their homework is currently at a manageable level. It seems that freshmen are getting less homework in order to ease them into the school year and into high school in general. For those who did answer with high levels of stress (aka. the upperclassmen), they were asked if they thought their stress might improve. They both answered with a resounding, but quite stressed, “Hopefully!”
It seems that, within the upper grades, there are corresponding high levels of stress. It’s common to be stressed out during these years as seniors are experiencing the horrid reality of the Common Application on top of classes that prepare us for the great beyond (college, or whatever waits for us post-graduation). Juniors this year are working up to become the seniors you see before you today, which is attributed to preparing for SATs, ACTS, and everything in between. With all of these intense stressors in our lives, there’s no question except; How do we combat this stress that we have throughout our lives and within school?
Of the students interviewed prior, a few solutions were given to mitigate the beginning of the school year stress: playing/cuddling with pets, listening to music, and investing in a new organizational (planner) system.
There are plenty more options for de-stressing yourself, for example: meditation, yoga, going outside, or even (if you have an assignment due soon and you don’t have time) just a few deep breaths.
Getting back into the school year may be difficult, but there is no reason why you should be completely stressed out about it. Finding healthy distractions is helpful with managing stress, and it’s important to keep yourself from becoming all-consumed by the work that’s given to you at school. If you need a place to decompress, there are plenty of clubs around the school centered around mental health, and the Wellness Center is open throughout the school day!
Make sure to take deep breaths, drink plenty of water, get enough sleep, and take care of yourself going through the rest of the school year!
