Recently, National Stress Awareness Day was acknowledged at Lotus. This day takes place on the first Wednesday of each November, which landed on November 2nd this year.  This day was made to acknowledge how stress can have a negative impact on your everyday life, affecting your ability to perform well in different settings. 

According to Nationaltoday.com, “According to science, chronic stress leads to impaired cognitive and physiological function.” Stressing does no good for anyone, especially for young people. 

This day was created to bring more awareness to stress, help people find more ways to ease the stress, and find ways to better manage their stress. National Stress Awareness Day is celebrated on a Wednesday because Wednesday is usually considered the most stressful day of the week. Stress can impact anybody: teachers, students, and even your own parents! Stress can affect the way students do school, work, sleep, and after-school activities.

There are many ways to relieve stress. Lotus students Kimberly Aguilera, Feruz Yahia, and Andra Ansere were interviewed and asked how stress affects their everyday life.  Feruz Yahia says, “Stress has made me get into a slump, where it takes a couple of days to feel completely better.”

“Stress has affected my ability to perform well in tests,” Kimberly adds, and Andra mentions that, “Stress has made me have lack of motivation, and sometimes it has made me want to stay in bed all day.” 

When asked how they relieve stress, Feruz Yahia replies saying, “I relieve my stress by indulging in my favorite hobbies.” Kimberly Aguilera  shares that she relieves stress by, “… talking my problems out with people, expressing my emotions, and taking a walk outside.”

A little bit of stress is okay, but not when it is too much and is negatively impacting you. At our age, we should not feel overwhelmingly stressed as it is not good for our physical and mental health. If you are feeling stressed, there are many ways to relieve stress.

Andra Ansere, Feruz Yahia, and Kimberly Aguilera also have some advice to give to younger Lotus students who might be experiencing stress. Andra says, “Keep your head up high and there’s a reason to everything, focus on the end result,” Kimberly and Feruz both added to this statement and said, “When you are feeling stressed, you should take a deep breath, and sometimes take a break on what is stressing you until you have calmed down completely,”

Mr. Chris also wanted to share some advice to those currently experiencing stress, “When you are feeling stressed, take it one day at a time, and remember what you are working towards. Don’t give up.”

If you feel alone, you can always talk to your friends, classmates, and the faculty members of Lotus on how stress is affecting you and gain some helpful advice!