As the fourth quarter ends, the school year is no longer in its beginning stage. With this comes an influx of homework and often, in turn, stress. The balance between school, sleep, extracurricular, and personal time is exceptionally delicate and some people are never able to find it. I would be lying if I said that I have found this balance, but it is something that I am actively working on. Everybody’s situation is different, but as someone who has several hours a week dedicated to extracurriculars and still takes difficult classes, I feel like I can speak to what it is like to be a busy student. In my experience, the best ways to deal with stress as a student are having a hobby, prioritizing sleep, and taking classes that interest you.

Having a hobby that you are passionate about is so important to deal with stress. Hobbies work best when they are unscheduled and purely for fun. For me, this hobby is reading. I try not to plan my reading or feel bad when I don’t read a lot, I just let it happen. This allows me to have a distraction and a time when I can feel purely myself. 

Prioritizing sleep is something that I really struggle with. I have pulled countless all-nighters and gone weeks at a time without getting more than four hours of sleep a night. While you can do these things and still function, you will not be at your best. Prioritizing sleep means being organized with when you do your work, and sometimes knowing when it’s time to just call it quits and go to sleep.

Taking interesting classes is such a great way to be motivated to do work, and make school feel less draining. As you get older, you have much more freedom in the classes you take. Being in a class and truly appreciating the material that you are learning is a great feeling and helps to make school feel less burdensome.