Westerville South students share advice on how to handle stress

Sophia Shai, Reporter

Students everywhere, including Westerville South, have been experiencing a lot of stress lately. Between fear of a pandemic, a crazy election, loads of school work, and regular everyday tasks, teenagers are being asked to handle a lot lately. 

Trying to keep up with everything that is going on can be overwhelming. But, students at Westerville South are here to explain how they get through stressful times and come out on top.

Senior, Iman Benlemlih, explains what has been stressing her out recently, “I’ve been the most stressed about school and also sports.” 

Benlemlih, along with many other students have found it hard to adjust to off and on weeks at school. Benlemlih said, “ When I feel stressed, I feel down. No motivation or energy. Tired. I just want a break.” 

That’s why it is so important that when people are feeling stressed, they know how to combat these feelings. 

To help with these feelings, Benlemlih said, “When I feel this way I try to take my feelings out on something that could benefit me. Whether it’s mediation, a quick run, or hitting the gym. The pain from physical exercise almost cancels out the stress and allows you to release it.  Other days when I just can’t physically do something productive, I’ll just sleep it away.” 

Those are all very good ways to get out of your own head and keep pushing forward when you are feeling upset, according to Benlemlih. 

Benlemlih’s advice to students who are stressed is to advise anyone to find something that they can do to ease their stress. “There are so many options: playing with a pet, going on a walk, facetiming a friend, hitting the gym,” she said.

Benlemlih suggested trying different things and finding what works best for you and what makes you feel better afterwards.

Junior Madison Yanichko said she has been most stressed about, “ … managing my time. I’m in three school plays as well as a full IB student, so at the moment I really have my plate full, and it’s really hard to make time for everything that needs to get done.” 

Yanichko described how stress impacts her physically.  “There is a weight in my chest that makes me drag on and all I can think about are my stressors and how to fix them,” she said. 

Stress can also show up in physical symptoms like fatigue, headache, muscle pain, and sleep problems according to The Mayo Clinic. 

Yanichko also said, “ I usually don’t sleep well…I even dream about the thing that is stressing me out. I feel like there is a knot in my stomach and the only thing that relieves it is doing the thing that stresses me out.”

To help control stress levels, Yanichko said, “ I try to get home as early as I can so I can have time to unwind and take a nap in my bed or shower before starting homework.” Yanichko explained that this helps her brain to relax so she can be more productive later on. 

Sophomore, Kathryn Cohen said, “The last few months have been stressful for many reasons. With all of the uncertainty in the world it has been hard to stay calm. The main stress in my life has been the uncertainty of the school system, not knowing when or if we will have to go all online or get to be in class.” 

When Cohen is stressed she said, “I like to listen to music and look on Pinterest. I like to try and take my focus off the stress of school and focus on doing one thing at a time.” 

To others who are struggling with stressful times, Cohen suggested, “…find something that makes you happy and to get a planner to organize yourself. My planner has made me so much more organized!” 

 Using a  planner can help students stay organized and help to control stress levels. 

Marshall University stated on their website, “A planner reduces anxiety… You can stop remembering something the second you write it down. You can let it go and concentrate on more important things.”

 Although this year has been full of many ups and downs, students of Westerville South find it important to stay positive and focus on the good things more than the bad. Benlemlih said, “A positive thing that has happened is taking senior pictures and kinda just realizing I’m a senior and have made it so far in high school haha time flies.”

 A positive thing Yanichko is focusing on is, “ …that I got my first lead in the school musical. I have been working so hard for a lot of years at this moment, so it was really exciting when I found out!” she said.

 Cohen said, “A positive thing that has happened to me in the past few months is being a part of theater. Theater is a positive group that has led me to make many more friends.”

Senior, Iman Benlemlih, does yoga and works out to relieve stress.