Stress is a word that scares everyone. Many high schoolers deal with too much stress, whether caused by classes or themselves, but not everybody understands how to deal with it.

There is no one way to eliminate stress altogether, but there are ways to lessen the pressure of it.

As we are headed toward the end of the school year, a lot more events are happening, especially for seniors.

Prom, senior work day, and graduation are all nearing. This can be stressful because there is so much to do and so little time to do it. Although this may be true, there are ways to handle and manage stress levels.

• Keep a calendar or planner to make sure you are on track, and yes, a phone calendar will work. Write or type down all your events and set deadlines when certain assignments or events that need to be completed.
• Try and get as much done before your deadline as possible. If you set a deadline for getting homework done, try and do it early.
• Study, study, and study. Taken five or ten minutes our of your day to study. Think about all you learned and how grateful you are to have learned it. Make sure to understand all information thrown at you.

Many other students are also stressed for different reasons. Tests, AP work, or sports may cause stress, but there are ways to deal with this too. For this, I say do all of what I told you and more.

Believe in yourself and you can do anything. The end of the year is not the time to give up and procrastinate, but work harder. If you work harder, time will go by faster, and summer will be here in no time.

Take the weekends off and unplug your phone. You do not need to throw your phone away for a day, but do not constantly look at it. Keep the sound on and answer calls or texts, but stay off of social media. Take the weekends to relax, once your work for the week is done, and relax for two days.

Shelbi Webb, 12, said, “I handle my stress and activities in a variety of ways. Some of my activities double as stress relievers. Other ways I relieve my stress is through physical activity, stopping and breathing for a minute, or sitting down and reading a good book.”

Stress is something that everyone deals with constantly, but there are ways to reduce it. I hope you take these tips and that they are helpful in some way.