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Schools

How to Alleviate the Stresses of Junior Year

A reflection on junior year at San Ramon Valley High School—and how to get through it.

With the sun peeking through the clouds and April showers just around the corner, it only means one thing: summer is quickly approaching.

To students, this means the end of another school year.  To almost everyone else, this just means the days will be longer, hotter, and filled with children enjoying summer festivities.  

As a student at San Ramon Valley High School, I'm most looking forward to summer as a break from a stressful junior year.  I went into this year thinking, "this is going to be the toughest school year I've ever been through."

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Unlike some of my junior classmates, I don't have five Advanced Placement classes or sports team practice everyday after school.  However, my schedule does include two honors classes, AP English Language, track and field pre-season and season training from November to June, and several other extracurricular activities such as volunteering and other school clubs.  

I get up at 6:45 on school days, go to practice, and do my homework until around 11 at night.  On the weekend, I usually have a track meet and volunteer work on Sundays, plus around 3 or 4 hours of homework.

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Aside for the school commitments, there is the looming college application process. Junior year is said to be, by counselors, teachers, and parents, the year that matters most for college applications.  This is the year where classes are the most challenging and really tests each student's ability to succeed.

That means taking the SAT and ACT tests, which are offered several times each year.  Like many other of my fellow classmates, I attended a class where I was given practice SAT tests each week and time in class for tutoring.

Among the late nights of studying and finishing homework, I had to give up a hobby I love for relaxation—reading.

As a student at Charlotte Wood, I had all the time in the world to read.  I usually read two or three books each week.  I enjoyed the Harry Potter series, as well as several books by Sarah Dessen.  As a freshman in high school I found the reading dwindled to one book a week, then to two a month in sophmore year and now, as a junior, to none.

Fortunately, I've recently discovered a new pastime for a quick way to relax– taking walks. Nature and the smell of fresh air, and just the outdoors itself, does wonders for me when I'm stressed.  It gives me time to think and often time to chat with a friend.

Instead of chatting on Facebook, e-mailing, or instant messaging, I've found a pleasant conversation with a friend outstide, face-to-face, creates a closer bond. And that silence of walking alone in nature, is golden.

This is a message to my fellow stressed out classmates and anyone else who needs a break: Take the time to go for a walk whenever you're feeling down or anxious. 

As Rachel Carson, the founder of the contemporary environmental movement, once said, "It is a wholesome and necessary thing for us to turn again to the earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know of wonder and humility."

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