School, huh? Well, this is a topic I could talk about for days, to be completely honest. There are many different discussions we could have, but I’m going to focus on stress, especially since the end of this school year is near and most of us are on the edge.
So, school year is ending which means taking exams and a lot of people don’t like it….me included. But, the exams are obviously necessary. There are different opinions about exams and why this grading system is such a big part of our education system.
Some say that grades are not the right representative of a person’s knowledge, since one can be good at computer science, but not at history, for example. Besides, the grading system puts a lot of pressure on students and it creates competition, stress, and in a way the loss of innocence. This is because when students are graded, they tend to compare themselves to others.When students are stressed, their self -esteem is low and this doesn’t necessarily encourage them to work hard but might cause them to give up instead.
However, others believe that the grading system is a good idea since you can presume the knowledge of each student. But we need to take into consideration that many students have fear of taking tests and exams and this can have an effect on the final grade.
So why am I talking about this topic?
We all have problems with stress, some more than others, but there are different ways of coping with it.
Here are some ways of coping with stress, in and outside of school:
  • Take care of yourself: eating healthy; exercising – you don’t need to go to the gym, you can do some yoga, go for a run or even walk your dog, just enough to get your blood pumping, getting enough sleep can make you feel a lot better, too.
  • Have some “me time”.Just doing what you like can relax you, for example you can read a book, play the guitar, go out with friends etc.
  • Talk to others, you can share your problems and how you feel with a parent, a friend, a counsellor.
  • Avoid drugs and alcohol. These may seem to help with the stress but in the long run they create additional problems and increase the stress you are already feeling.
  • Learn to manage your time more efficiently.