Hard Working High School Students

As the clock approaches midnight on a Sunday evening, a young teenager is still staring at a large collection of numbers and letters while breathing deeply and slowly shaking the head in confusion. It is a scene that is far too familiar to a typical hard working high school student. In this generation, high school students, especially seniors, are facing a tremendous amount of stress as education becomes ever so important for success. An annual survey by the American Psychological Association revealed that present day teens are actually more stressed than adults. On a 10-point scale, the average teen experiences a stress level of around 5.8 compared to 5.1 for the average adult. The study also showed that due to stress, 30% of teens feel depressed

However, it is also a great source of stress for hard working teenagers. The academics are the most important aspect of school and in the senior year, students scramble to prepare themselves for their desired program in post-secondary. As a result, high school senior students usually carry a full schedule of demanding courses such as English, Math, Biology, Chemistry and Physics. The heavy workload introduces a great deal of stress as students struggle to balance themselves and perform well in all their courses. A 2014 survey showed that high school students are assigned an average of 3.5 hours of homework nightly. With such as great chunk of time taken out of every night, time management becomes an issue as well. To accommodate the heavy workload, students tend to develop poor sleeping habits due to late night work and study sessions. Another 23% of teens were so short of time that they report skipping meals just to complete assignments from school, which is not at all healthy for a developing teenage body. When I was in Grade 11, I experienced firsthand just how stressful school can be. Grade 11 was definitely a huge jump from Grade 10 and I cannot recall a single week during the whole school year where I did not have an evaluation or assignment due. Needless to say, when there were multiple evaluations happening on the same day, it felt like a total nightmare. It was extremely difficult to juggle multiple

Teenagers do not have very strict responsibilities and are not required to make a lot of important decisions. However, everything changes in Grade 12, where students are forced to make a decision on which post-secondary career path they would like to pursue. Choosing a post-secondary program is not always easy and can be a source of great stress and frustration. For many, the decision is very, very difficult simply because many students have not yet decided what they wish to do with their lives. Whether is be a doctor, lawyer, mechanic or engineer, choosing a career could very well be a lifelong commitment and students stress out to ensure they do not regret their decisions. Many hard working but indecisive seniors usually take very heavy hitting courses such as the three sciences, additional mathematics or languages to keep their options open until the very end. As a result, they suffer from a heavy workload and are unable to enjoy their final high school year. The transition out of high school is very challenging and decisions made during this time period can have life changing effects. It is without a doubt that the process can be extremely stressful, but much of the stress can be relieved by simply preparing beforehand. The early years of high school are excellent opportunities to explore career options and obtain a general idea of our field of interest. It is better to prepare earlier and have a