What is stress? For teens, stress is trying to get all late assignments in before the semester ends. Stress is being pressured by peers to fit in. Stress is thinking about college and deciding what one wants to do after high school. Stress is struggling to balance school, work, and extracurricular activities.

  With exam week approaching, it is not uncommon for a high school student to feel stressed about midterms: often high schoolers feel extremely crammed with work the week before exams, trying to get their grades up at the last minute and studying for exams. However, in contrast to the thoughts of many, stress can actually be beneficial to a student. With a healthy amount of stress, students may become motivated, but too much stress can negatively affect a student.

  “I think sometimes there actually can be benefits but not if you’re overstressed, and you’re stressed all the time because sometimes a little bit of stress can help us perform at a higher level,” FHS counselor Mrs. Carol Trush said. “It’s all about that balancing act: you don’t want it so much that it’s having a negative impact on your health, but it’ll get the adrenaline flowing to help you get through this.”

  With the stress that comes with exam week, there are various strategies that a high school student can use to reduce the amount of stress.

  “The first thing I would say is that the day before your exams, make sure that you get a good night’s rest, you eat breakfast, all of that,” Trush said, “but even before that, make sure you’re well prepared. The better prepared you are, I think that the less stressed you will be.”

  To add, getting into a habit of taking advantage of resources and setting reminders to manage time wisely is advised for students.

  “Use your agenda, your iPad, whatever you need,” Trush said. “If you have to, set yourself a reminder to check all of your classes everyday that you have what needs to be done, what you have to take care of. If you’re going through that, when you get home, …pick a time and a place to get things done, to do your homework.”

  Furthermore, there are many high school students who feel overwhelmed with school due to procrastination; however, procrastination and saving work for the last minute is not a wise decision.

  “Procrastination is not a smart idea,” Trush said, “because that will add stress to you near the end of the semester in terms of getting all your competencies done, trying to get work made up so that you can improve your grades. You need to get on top of things right from the beginning; that’s something you can do all semester long, and I think that would alleviate some of the stress near the end cause that’s all part of that preparation is that you’re not lagging behind when it comes to studying.”

  In following these tips, if a student still feels overworked with school, FHS counselors would gladly offer help.

  “If you’re still struggling, come on down and see one of us, and we can help you organize that time a little bit so that you can get something done,” Trush said. “It’s important to have a routine so that everyday, you’re at least checking what needs to be done.”

  All in all, Trush wishes all FHS students good luck on exams.

  “Prepare, prepare, prepare, and you’ll go in feeling a lot more confident, and things, hopefully, will be less stressful,” Trush said. “Do the best you can, and if your strategies for first semester didn’t turn out quite how you planned, regroup: go through and figure out what you did right, what you did wrong, and maybe come up with some new strategies for yourself.”