These days, it feels like stress has become the high schooler’s second shadow: a constant, inescapable companion. You can see students rushing down the hallways, coffee in one hand and notes in the other, trying to get from class to tutorial to retest.

In a survey of around 30 FHS students who were asked what the most stressful part of high school is, almost half said math. That is not surprising. It is widely circulated that kids and math just don’t mix. But why? “It’s not very intuitive,” said one student, “You can’t really make an educated guess if you don’t know it.” While another commented, “If you make the smallest, most simple mistake, you get the question wrong.” Arithmetic aside, science was the other most popular answer, with the majority of those being from physics-haters. “It just has too much math,” one student said about the class. There’s that hated word again.

Apart from math and physics, the other least liked courses included biology, geography, and foreign language, courses that rely heavily on students to straight-out memorize facts and vocabulary. “You have to memorize all these vocabulary terms, outcomes, causes, effects…” said one stressed student about her geography course, “but they all change based on so many different factors. It’s too much studying.” Much of the same was said about biology, as well as consistent complaints of the class making students feel “overworked and pressured” because it “just goes too fast.”

However, the second most unpopular course had the opposite problem. After math and physics, English came in as the third least liked course. “It’s too subjective,” one student said of the course, “Literature is open to interpretation. There can be more than one meaning.” Others complained, “I already know English. I haven’t learned anything new in an English course since elementary school.”

Luckily, most students surveyed felt that these negatives were all due to the course work and not the teacher. In fact, most students said that their teachers were vital to getting them through times of stress. Often, students said things like, “Nah, my teacher’s great. I just don’t understand math.” While it is reassuring to know that we have the support and attention of our teachers, the fact still remains that many students find school to be a source of overwhelming stress.

So what can students do for themselves to help alleviate this pressure? There are numerous answers, but the biggest one is time management. “Sometimes I need to work but time just flies by and then the next day I have twice as much to do,” one student shared, “In the mornings, I always wish I turned off the TV and did my work.” Additionally, it also helps to have healthy habits like getting sleep and drinking water. The better you take care of your body, the better it will preform in and outside of school.

After studying what stresses students out, it becomes apparent how vital it is that kids learn to cope with stress. The more you can rest and manage your time, the easier it is to be a student who is well-performing and stress-free!