The middle of the school year brings upon an extreme amount of stress for students. From grades and homework to friends and dating, students are constantly immersed in pressure from peers, parents, and teachers. Students at Faith Lutheran are held to a very high standard and are expected to exceed that standard. Unfortunately, this can be the reason why many students get so stressed out.

“I feel pressured by other classmates because I always see them doing really well, and it makes me want to do well, but sometimes it’s hard,” said Freshman, Taylor Folk.

Students often compare themselves to other students, and doing this can lead to stress and thoughts of not being good enough.

“I think that comparison is a huge source of stress, when we hold ourselves up against other people and worry about that,” said counselor Mrs. Burns.

Another common way stress is caused for Faith Lutheran students is from procrastination. When homework, studying, and projects are left until the last minute, students feel an overload of stress.

“Some stress comes when kids tend to procrastinate and that makes things overwhelming and more stressful than they need to be,” said Mrs. Burns.

Faith Lutheran has many resources available to students who feel stress. For example, there are counselors that students can talk with to receive advice or to just have someone listen to their problems. Some advice from counselor Mrs. Washington is to practice Mindfulness Meditation, a simple way to pay attention to the present moment by refocusing breathing. This can reduce some of the stress students feel.

“To fix the stress I think teachers can be more cooperative and people can try to put less pressure on you, like classmates and parents,” said Folk.

The cause of many students’ stress comes from their teachers and parents, so making those people aware of how you’re feeling can help alleviate some of the stress. Not knowing how to handle the stress can also cause students to feel alone and frustrated.

“I’m a big believer in lists, and I think that once you know what you’re dealing with you can deal with it and so if you have this overwhelming feeling of anxiety to just sit down and plot out what it actually is that’s bothering you, and then you can work through it. When you just feel bad you have anxiety, but when you have things that you need to take care of you have problems, and problems can be solved,” said Mrs. Burns.

Stress is inevitable for high school students, but having resources accessible for them can help students overcome these feelings. If you are feeling stressed, visit one of the many counselors or talk to your parents and teachers.