Students at PHS can go to the library to focus on their stressful homework in a quiet environment. Photo By: Emma Daniels
By: Emma Daniels
Students at Plymouth High School become stressed out due to exams, the pressure of passing classes, and after school life.
Not only school, but other everyday activities can stress out students. Junior Cecilia Valdez said, “My boyfriend stresses me out the most.” Not only relationships, but home life can also be stressful for students. Freshman Francesca Carten said, “things that are going on at home, things in my life, and when people say stressful things” stress her out. Junior Veronica Orta said that all school related activities stress her out. Orta said that “work, school exams, AP testing, SAT, college, and if everything will work out, stresses me out.”
Freshman Elyse Lucas said, “the reasons that [school] cause[s] me so much stress is because if I don’t turn in one sheet of homework, my grade will fall and that will cause my GPA to fall, and I won’t get into a good college or be able to get a job that I will enjoy later in life.” Students at PHS feel that homework and grades are a major factor of their stress. Orta said that having 5 classes “are a lot to deal with all at once.”
Students congregate with friends during their lunch hour to focus on less stressful activities.
Photo By: Emma Daniels
Students say that they try and control their stress with other activities. Freshman John Mills said “I ask the teacher if I can go out in the hall for a moment or a will I listen to music.” While Lucas said, “I go outside and practice color guard because it distracts me from the rest of my problems.” One can have different ways to control their stress. Carten said that “I try to do things that are relaxing or try to calm down.” Students tend to focus on non-stressful activities when stressed.
When students are stressed it makes them feel “really mad or angry or upset,” as Mills said. Freshman Callie Burch said that when she is stressed she “wants to cry and curl up in a ball most of the time.” While Burch wants to cry, Carten feels, “unfocused, worried, and I can’t seem to sit still.” Orta said when she is stressed it makes “my anxiety rises dramatically.”
When students feel upset, worried, or stressed, they want to be left alone. Lucas said, “When I am stressed I only want to talk to a few select people.” Burch said that she “would rather be left alone, as people talking just gets too [stressful].” Carten said that it “depends on what type of stressful situation it is. Usually I like to talk, it normally calms me down, but in other cases I don’t want people to talk to me because I might get mad and snap on them.”
To calm themselves down, student do multiple non-stressful activities. Freshman Mackenzie Winrotte said she “tries my best and knows that I have done my best.” Mills said that he “listens to music or talks to someone.” While Orta said that she “tries to push through whatever I’m going through.”
PHS students have found ways to push through a stressful situation with calming activities.