6 Tips for Dealing with High School Stress

Natasha Rao - Co-Founder

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Let’s cut to the chase, high school is full of different types of stress and pressures. At times, it can seem overwhelming and that no one seems to understand what you are going through. The combination of exam pressures, college admissions, and external factors from family members and friends does not help your situation. Whether it be your own personal drive to do better, your parents pushing you to do well on the SAT, friend group drama — or even all of them — it can take a large toll on your mental health if you don’t know how to deal with it.

What I have come to notice when dealing with these different pressures is that they are all fears. It all starts with a fear of not being “successful,” not getting an A, failing, the future of your friend group, etc. While this is good when it’s limited, it can also generate an immense amount of stress which can take a toll on your health. Here are a few tips to remember when dealing with the stress of high school

1. Know your limits

I’ve noticed that when it comes to choosing classes, many students don’t know their

limits (including myself) which severely affects their performance later on and contributes to more stress. But at the same time, I have also seen students who don’t challenge themselves at all. The biggest thing you can do for yourself is to know how far you can go. I do not suggest taking all honors classes because at the end of the day, you are just going to be stressed to the max. At the same time, you should still be challenging yourself enough so that you improve. This ability comes with knowing your limits and how much work you can do to prevent falling into the deadly spiral of stress.

2. Extracurriculars

It is important to realize that colleges don’t only care about your GPA. They also look for students who demonstrate well-roundedness. They care whether you made a difference in your community, rather than doing activities that are popular. Be different. Do something you love with your free time that is also productive (that means limiting your time on Netflix!) This is also a great way to unwind and destress. I have a friend that uses photography as her stress outlet while uses writing. Meanwhile, I like to use music and blogging as my stress outlet. It is all up to what you like to do.

3. Friend Drama

When you get to high school, you will inevitably lose some friends. That is just how it is. My friend group thought that we would stick together throughout high school, and, in fact, most of us did. However, we did lose some friends here and there. This is nothing to be worried about and it is probably not because they suddenly hate you. It is just that people grow apart and change, so you may not necessarily get along anymore.

The important thing to remember when it comes to drama is to avoid it in the first place. If you are already dealing with school stress, then adding friend drama won’t help. If you can’t avoid it, try to put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Once you understand their side of the argument, you can try to reconcile with them. A good point to remember is that sometimes people will need their space to get over something. If all else doesn’t work, resort to giving them some time and space.

4. SELF-CARE!

You are SO IMPORTANT. Take care of yourself and your body. Get enough sleep, water, healthy food, and maintain a good hygiene. If you don’t take care of yourself, you can risk your physical health, as well as your mental health. The more sleep you can get, the better. When you get enough sleep, your brain can function much more effectively and absorb more information a lot easier. Hydration is also incredibly important. I am one of those guilty of not hydrating enough and resulting in many unpleasant health effects such as headaches. Make it a practice to eat your breakfast (take it to-go!), hydrate, exercise, and get enough sleep daily so you can perform your best the next day!

5. Changing your Mindset

The key to doing well in any class is not only work but it is also your mindset. If you go into a class believing that you are horrible at the subject and you will never get a good grade, that’s exactly what is going to happen. While it is good to know your weaknesses, it isn’t good to discourage yourself because of it. Instead, say that you will try your best to learn the subject material in order to do well. Celebrate your successes and analyze your failures. Figure out where you went wrong, why it happened, and how you can prevent making the same mistakes next time you are in a similar situation.

6. Compare and Don't Compare

Try to focus on yourself, your abilities, and your accomplishments/failures. Occasionally, look at other people to confirm you aren't falling behind. Other than that, make sure that you are constantly improving on yourself. Everyone has their different talents; therefore, comparing yourself to someone else is like comparing “apples to oranges." If you are going to do so, compare to your previous self or look to others for inspiration. By looking at those who are doing better than you, it can inspire you to push yourself to do better. The important thing is to be better than you were yesterday, as cheesy as it sounds.

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Let us know in the comments how you deal with the pressures of high school! Any tips, tricks, or ideas? We want to hear them.