Finding Balance Amidst the Stress by Annie

Finding Balance Amidst the Stress by Annie - June 2024 Scholarship Essay

They say junior year in high school is the toughest year of high school. I brushed those comments aside and did not think much of it. Little did I know that my junior year would turn out to be every bit as challenging as I had heard. Now, at the end of my junior year, I am grateful that for the insight I have gained. Informal education has played a huge role in my academic success this past year by teaching me to manage my time better and slow down.
I have always been a driven student, someone who cares a lot about grades and performance. I have worked hard and taken academically rigorous classes throughout high school. I’d always gotten the A. I had always worked hard, maybe twice as hard as the person sitting next to me, but I had always done well. That first semester of junior year was tough and took me by surprise. My grades were not dropping, but I was having to put an arm and a leg in to make that possible. Not only was I juggling my AP and advanced classes, but I also had cross country practice and meets, viola practice, music school, and on top of all that I was trying to make time for God, my family, and my friends. This high-stress mode that I was constantly in, rushing around to get things done and striving for the perfect grade, was not healthy. During this season, I was forced to manage my time. To make priorities. To get goals. I knew what I had to do to be academically successful. The stress taught me to look at my time in a new light. My time was valuable and important. I made time to do the things that I needed or really wanted to do. I did not have time to waste just scrolling on my phone.
As I was studying my heart away, I also began to realize the importance of taking breaks. For anyone to be academically successful and not burn out, they need to take breaks and not be on the grind 24/7. I began to appreciate small breaks and would come back to studying refreshed and with a clear mind.
Another thing that stress taught me is that I need to be mentally healthy in order to perform well academically. When I was in a terrible mental state and was too stressed all the time, I was not able to focus well. I did not have the right mindset to work hard to achieve my goals. I realized that I needed to slow down and just take time to enjoy the things I love to do to be a balanced person. I realized that it was not healthy for me just to coop up and start studying right when I got home from school. I needed to make sure that I was slowing down enough to be able to be a healthy person, inside and out.
I also realized that I needed to change my mindset. I had begun to think that the grades I got were more important than the actual lessons that I was learning. When I realized how twisted my brain had started to be, I worked to try to enjoy the lessons I was learning. I realized that the more I was genuinely interested in what I was learning, the better I did on tests anyway because I had learned the content well that I thought was interesting. When I started changing my habits, I immediately reaped the benefits. Going to sleep earlier and prioritizing my health gave me a new alertness in class and I was able to retain more information. I found studying easier and did not feel as weighed down. By slowing down, I had increased the efficiency of my studying and I started seeing results. Test scores went up. I also became less nervous taking tests which made me perform better.
The stress of junior year taught me a lot of life skills that have already helped me grow as a student and continue to help me be more successful in all areas of my life. I learned that stress can eat away at your life and it is important to keep it under control and not ignore it. I am thankful to have learned these valuable life lessons that have played a huge role in my academic success.