WIZARDS SAY STRESS IS WORTH IT

By NICOLE QUINONES

Around the holidays, students begin to overly stress and look forward to the break that is coming their way. From September to December, many students have to deal with a lot of stress: an overload of work, extracurricular activities, jobs outside of school, and the list goes on. All of this occurs  while teens are trying to maintain a social life and make the most out of their dwindling high school careers. These overworked students often feel like they have no down time to relax, recuperate and rejuvenate.  Some of our very own Wizards opened up about just how much the stress of juggling so many things at once affects them and how they handle that stress.

Senior at Washingtonville High School, Gianna Galu, is an active member of the school’s Yearbook Club. Gianna is the Co-Editor in Chief and Photo Editor of the club, a member of the costume crew in Masque and Mime, a National Honor Society member, and a part time waitress at Prima Pizza in Cornwall.  In addition, Gianna takes college classes, maintains a high GPA and is currently going through the arduous application process for college. On top of all of this, it is important for Gianna to maintain a social life so she doesn’t feel alone. “Stress is something that everyone has to deal with at a point in their life. It is definitely hard to balance all of the responsibilities of being a student, having a part time job and being a part of multiple clubs. It is easy to feel overworked and overwhelmed. Personally, I use the idea of reaching my goals to push myself through stress and overwhelming times, but have learned that you must take care of yourself in order to make it at all.”

NICOLE QUINONES FOR WIZARD WEEKLY

Another senior at WHS, Carly Sacco, is President of the Class of 2017, Production Stage Manager of Masque and Mime and the Vice President of The National Honor Society.  Impressively, she is also a member of three more subject based Honor Societies and is the head of publicity for the Community Service Club.  Carly also helps out with all of the dance company shows that are held at the high school; when those happen, she is at the school until late hours for about three weeks straight two times a year. This dedicated student takes all AP and college classes and, like many seniors, is going through the application process for college. “I do a lot and it’s hard and stressful, but I think it’s worth it.  I like the extracurriculars I do.  They make me happy.”  She deals with her heavy work load by, “I work it out by scheduling my time and trying to keep track of the events… also having my friends help me is hecka helpful.”  From all of the activities she does, Sacco has learned a great deal. “I learned delegation to the extreme this year.” It’s important for students to know that their hard work pays off. Gianna and Carly aren’t the only students that have to deal with a lot of work and stress; they are one out of hundreds of students that feel overworked and tired and are looking forward to the upcoming break.

Now one might ask how dedicated students are able to run around while maintaining a good GPA.  The answer is simple: time management. Students who do a lot of activities are time management machines. The students that I have talked to live in their planners and everything they do is written down with times, dates and pages filled with tasks they have to complete.  If a student is not organized it, is going to be nearly impossible to do it all. 

Hard work and ambition carries students throughout the school year, but for some it becomes too much. Those students need to step back and look at their lives. They should ask themselves, “Am I happy? Am I making strides in my life that will help me out in the future?” Even though things might seem hard right now and you feel like you barely see your family or that you haven’t cuddled with your dog in weeks, it is all going to be worth it come graduation day.