High school is a crucial phase in a student’s life.  It is the time period in which a student must prepare and showcase their best of abilities for the next big step – college. In these four years students are constantly pressured by the high emphasis on grades and outstanding performance, leading to an overabundance of stress.
As a junior I feel that I am constantly worrying more about my grades than the content of the work being studied.  All I’m concerned about is how to improve my grade and boost my GPA enough to pass with decent results and be accepted by an appropriate college.
After talking to counselor Kyle Haenisch, I learned that according to the four-by-four plan, students must take and pass four English, four math, four social studies, and four science classes in order to walk the stage with their class in May.
Otherwise students are required to re-take classes over the summer and may be forced to walk the stage in August. Creating not only an academic pressure, but also a social pressure. Students feel threatened by the thought of the embarrassment they would face if they were unable to walk the stage with the rest of their graduating class.
The importance of class ranks in college applications also creates a competitive atmosphere amongst students. Some students become over-competitive due to the social pressure. They begin to worry more about being better than the next person, and beating them at little things rather than actually focusing on the big picture. This, then, hinders their grades, leading to more stress.
Every grade level has obstacles of their own to face. In freshman year I was a little lost, and tried to make sense out of the new fast pace lifestyle I had become a part of. As a sophomore I had begun to get a hang of things a little more, and tried to focus on my grades. As a junior I’m constantly stressing about grades, and I am nervously anticipating taking the SAT and ACT test.  I had always heard that junior year is one of the toughest and assumed it must be the most stressful.
To my surprise, Haenisch told me that senior year is definitely the most stressful. He explained that not only do seniors have to deal with the pressure for grades, but they must also keep up with college applications and face many deadlines. Some of them even have jobs to keep up with. Along with all of that, this being their last year in high school, they try making the most of it, and have to balance out social events such as prom, with academics.
At times it gets hard to organize myself and prioritize my work. Every teacher intensely signifies the importance of his or her own class. I begin to stress too much about a single assignment and the thought of having to do seven more like it leaves disoriented. I don’t get anything done, and all my work begins to pile up.
I’ve learned that the trick is to take one thing at a time. I try not to think of all the other assignments I have yet to finish and just focus on the one I’m currently working on. Also, as hard as it may seem, it’s important not to take advantage of block scheduling and get your work done the day it is assigned. That way you are constantly on top of things and ahead of the game.
It’s difficult to not let the stress get to you. We’re over pressured to put our all into everything, and are left with very little leeway. We begin to stress more than we work and that only harms our grades. Despite all the stress and pressure I will still continue to use my own little techniques to work my way through things.