Liam Yi 

  For as long as many can remember, they have felt academic stress all throughout their school careers. The pressure stemming from excessive amounts of homework,  upcoming exams, and tests can create an environment that takes a mental toll on many students. 

   The factor that seems to be causing the most stress in each student is all the assignments and homework that overflow into many students’ afterschool lives. They have to carefully plan their days around the mindset of getting their homework and unfinished assignments done. Many students don’t necessarily have a problem with homework; more of the fact that many teachers rely on mindless assignments or “busy work “ just to have something to assign for points rather than focused assignments and lessons that require thinking. Students feel overwhelmed and stressed out when the assignments overflow into their afterschool lives. And simply when too much homework or busy work is being assigned.

   Tests are also a massive component contributing to the stress that students experience. On top of the constant reminders of work needed to be completed. Tests that could have detrimental effects to their grades are always being assigned and coincidentally on the same day as other tests. Students have to cram and study non stop to be able to get passing scores that won’t negatively affect their grades. Many have also experienced the most academic stress during state and school required exams like finals and     midterms.

    Students experience the overflow of homework, especially after getting home from afterschool activities. Numerous students realize they have unfinished homework still on their plate when feeling tired and unmotivated. Many experience the worst of academic stress at night saying that it is the thing that affects them the most, becoming surprised by “homework they did not realize they had before trying to go to sleep” as sophomore Samuel Lee says.

   Many just feel completely unmotivated to do their work and instead choose to sideline it and do other activities that would be considered less boring and more exciting. However there are many diverse ways to cope with it that vary dramatically from every student. Many just try to manage their time as wisely as possible while others resort to external methods like listening to music when doing homework and in general to calm themselves down from the stress or overbearing thoughts of work. Others also just try to find and free up time in their busy days. Or by “getting work done whenever I can, like when I’m just relaxing and doing nothing else” sophomore Ashton Fricke explains.

   Academic stress will always be an ongoing challenge, as homework, workloads and tests will always be a part of students’ school lives. The best way to maintain a clear mental state and remain calm under all the pressure, is to find healthy ways to cope. Whether that be listening to music, managing your time well, or simply taking a break. Having proper self care and being mindful of all the activities you have going on, can be the best way to manage your time and remain focused under all the pressure of academic stress.