Students at Parkway North Share How They Deal With Stress

“Stress can be good because it builds character and could maybe motivate you to get things completed, but too much of it can mentally and physically harm people,” said junior Josh Harrold. Stress is characterized as the body’s reaction when dealing with a challenge. Although it is identified as a bad thing, stress can help sharpen the mind and even help with avoiding dangerous situations. Regulating stress in safe ways is important to keep the body and mind in a healthy balance.

“I think the best way to deal with stress is taking your mind off of what you’re stressing over and just do something you love to do from time to time,” said senior Nazeer Robinson. “For me, working out, playing tennis, and talking to my parents help me out a bunch.”

With the end of the six week grading period approaching, students are feeling the stress and are trying to deal with it. However, dealing with stress is a difficult case to solve, as different people deal with stress in different ways. Taking deep breaths and practicing meditation may work for some but not for others.

“I have a schedule and sticking to it is a really good way that I deal with stress. When I’m in season, I seem to handle my workload a lot better because of it,” said junior Julia Paradise.

Playing a sport or participating in other extracurricular activities may help with stress as it diverts attention away from the problem and instead focuses on something enjoyable. It also forces people to schedule and use their time wisely since they know certain times are dedicated to a particular activity.

“School, my friends, and the future in general stress me out. I play baseball and basketball with people I’m close to, so both of those combined help me a lot. I’m enjoying the sport and also talking with people I would usually talk to about things that make me feel uneasy,” said Harrold.

Although stress is considered a bad thing by many , it can also be helpful in some cases to a portion of people.

“Honestly, if I didn’t have to deal with stress, I’d probably have no motivation for anything and end up failing at life. Some of the stress I deal with motivates me to make necessary changes, so it really helps in the long run,” said Paradise.

Dealing with stress in healthy ways is an important skill to have, as there will always be obstacles to face. Whether it be a transition into college life or drama with friends, people will always have to face some stress.

“Once I get to college, I know I’ll already start off with some stress because it’s a brand new environment for me. In high school, I’ve dealt with a bunch of stress so I’ll try and use the things I’ve learned here and how I dealt with feeling overwhelmed, and apply it to when I go to college. I think I’ll be ready for it. If you’re stressed, don’t wait until it’s too late and you feel too weighed down by everything. Do something you love and talk to people about it because it really does help,” said Robinson.

by Sagar Samuel