School Stress: Thank You, Next

A Time for Reflections and Reactions

The school year is almost over and it’s time to reflect. Life’s hard when you’re stressed out and most of the time you can’t get rid of it. Now that summer is coming, I can just feel the prayers for chill nights and stress-free days. I am especially one of those people. Everyone tells me that I stress too much as they motion me to just calm down, and I’ve tried, but I just can’t do it. It’s hard to be calm when you know what to do and what is expected and then you yourself set the bar higher because maybe that’s just you. Because that is me and it is honestly a endless cycle of lists and planning and working. 

I almost never stop. I can’t stop because it makes me feel so nervous. I can’t even take naps because I feel like I’m not being productive and to be honest, I even occasionally get FOMO (fear of missing out). Sometimes, I wake up in the morning and after less than a minute I’ll be on my laptop working on something because I try to use every minute I can. I don’t stop and my head doesn’t either, but honestly, things could've been worse, right? 

I consider myself as very forgetful throughout the school year, and it is primarily because I am thinking too much about everything all at once; I make myself busy without ever having time to stop and think. I always have this feeling of “I’m definitely forgetting something.” This might mean that I don’t manage my time well and it probably is, but there’s too much to focus on. The scenario of having various conflicting emotions is surely something that most - if not all - students can relate to. About a couple weeks ago, I forgot to turn in my final project for history. Now, that was really stupid. I remember waking up and freaking out as I rushed online to turnitin.com as quickly as possible. As bad as I felt at that moment, I learned (in quite the comical manner) that I could move pretty fast in the morning especially under pressure. I was barely even awake when I did that! After learning the hard way that I shouldn't forget important reminders and pointers, I made an endless amount of lists so I can stay on top of everything. Going off into a tangent, I love making lists, since it is absolutely beneficial for me to know what I have to do both in the present and in the future.

There are times where you feel like you might explode but there are always ways to fix them, especially when summer is approaching. For me, summer gives me a chance to do the things I really like. If I’m overly stressed, I really like to play the piano as a stress reliever. It works very well until I mess up and start banging the keys out of either playful or actual frustration. On the flip side, however, it calms me down to learn new skills, pick up new and old hobbies, and do something I really like.

For the people that aren’t really into the whole music bonanza, I also found out recently that working out is actually super helpful. It is funny because people say not to go to the gym when you’re burned out, but it is okay not to overexert and force yourself into taking on the weights and cross-fit components of the fitness program. After all, exercise leads to the release of endorphins, which explains the occasional stress relief one feels every now and then. 

In addition to that, I know that some people go to Netflix, but all I can think about is how I have so much to do and why I’m not currently doing it yet. Think of the meme where the caption says “watches Netflix” before the person in the image realizes that they have a lot of things to do, so the caption changes to “watches Netflix stressfully.” 

Moving Forward

Despite all of these, the best long-term goal I personally have is to be productive. Productivity can make an individual feel so much better as if a heavy weight has been lifted from their shoulders. Ultimately, there are countless ways to relieve stress but at the end of the day, they always depend on the person itself: learning an instrument, working out, watching Netflix. playing with pets, sleeping indefinitely, you name it.

Anyways, enough of that. The school year’s over and so is all that stress and negativity. Until next year!