Blog: What Stress?

The week before finals is always atrocious. Year in and year out, this is the week that adds more stress and more homework than any other. How do I handle this additional stress and work?

I don’t go home until long past the sun has set and long past when most people have eaten dinner.

This past Tuesday night is a prime example of how I keep stress levels low. I got home at 9:30 p.m., after working on journalism, prepping for debate and participating in a pep-band game.

I will admit, this seems to be paradoxical, but being at East long after a majority of the school’s students and teachers have departed calms me. And do you know what? I don’t think I’m the only one that sees East as a safe haven.

From witnessing writers and editors working to meet deadlines or the drum line practicing or the categories team making fact sheets, I have seen others survive the stresses high school by (somewhat ironically) spending more time at school. Ultimately, it is this level of involvement and care for our school which makes East such a great place.

To me, this is the greatest testament to the quality of our school. Many members of the East family have become so close-knit not because of the top-notch classes and strict academics we tout, but by common interests. East is special because we transcend the expectations of a good school. We aren’t just honors and AP and IB classes, but a small community of kids who experience a genuine creative and intellectual outlet among one another.

When I get home, the early birds are going to sleep. Yet this doesn’t bother me; I know my academic growth will be pushed forward because I apply my real life encounters to my studies and essays. The hours I have spent after school with other kids who value these real life learning experiences as much (or more than) learning within the classroom, those strictly school things tend to come a little easier and my stresses seem more mellow.

At the end of the day, I feel that this collection of knowledge is what will help me the most– both in my challenging classes, and the future that I see for myself after high school and college.

After all, finals only last a few hours. And I don’t get to drive home to the sunset afterwards.