Testing For Stress

Sol Kim and Paige Twenter|January 11, 2016

Tips:

“Plan some extra study time but don’t get away from the things that you know are healthy; eating well, getting enough sleep, getting some exercise, all those things help you handle the stress,” American History teacher Doug Winkler said. “I think learning how to handle stress and how to study appropriately would reduce that stress but still give them the performance [students] want on the final.”

“If you truly take the time and effort to learn the material and work on skills along the way in the semester, then you should be confident going into the finals because you’re not just trying to get stuff done,” English teacher Karla Schaeffer said. “You are taking the attitude of really trying to take that information and absorb it, you’ll do fine on the finals.”

“Don’t completely change what you do, if you exercise, and hopefully you do, continue doing that because that helps you handle stress,” Winkler said. “Staying up and only getting four to five hours of sleep a night for several nights in a row does not help you in the finals, it hurts you because lack of sleep will affect your memory and your ability to think in a rational way, which will affect your performance on the finals.”

It’s that time of the year when the phrase “finals are coming” feels like the floor is about to drop from underneath you. As the semester draws to a close, students feel pressured to improve their grades before they become set in stone. During finals week, the cramming, testing jitters and coffee consumption leaves students sleep deprived.

People around the high school explain what’s causing their lack of sleep at night, but not all hope is lost—students have also shared their favorite study habits to help prevent others from the unfortunate cost of falling into the deep, dark hole of despair that is finals week.

How Sleep Affects Academics

A student agreed that high school students are not getting the right amount of sleep they need each night.

“I think some students aren’t getting enough sleep because they procrastinate or get distracted when they do homework,” freshman Jane Sundell said. “So by the time they get their homework done it’s late at night. I think it’s also hard to get enough sleep when people are really involved with sports and clubs because then sometimes they won’t get home till later and then they still have to do their homework.”

There are a number of contributing factors to the lack of sleep students are receiving.

“Well one, I don’t think we value sleep very well,” psychology teacher David Fulkerson said. “Two, It seems like a waste of time when we have so many things to do. I think most of us live extremely busy lives and so there are a lot of activities that you become involved in that take a lot of time.”

Receiving the proper amount of sleep affects academic performance.

“[Sleep] is beneficial in almost any regard,” Fulkerson said. ”It affects your mood, energy, cognition, your ability to problem solve, it affects the growth hormones you receive, even if you’re not growing, it affects muscle mass. There isn’t any part of your body that isn’t impacted by a good night’s rest.”

Electronics also affect the amount of sleep students get each night.

“The blue light that is emitted from electronic screens, whether it be a television, computer, cellphone, can trick the brain into thinking that it is daylight outside,” Fulkerson said. “As a result, you’re not getting the proper sleep hormones that you would normally get in the evening. So as a result, this makes our bodies artificially stay up longer and interrupts the sleep cycle.”

What TO do:

– Engage in physical activity

– Remember to laugh

– Slow down

– Get enough sleep

– Get organized

– Try not to worry too much

– Study beforehand

– Form a study group

– Avoid using electronics while studying

What NOT to do:

– Working on homework for too long