When the topic of stress surrounding high school students is brought up, many people are quick to assume that upperclassmen, and especially seniors, beginning to face life-altering decisions, are the only ones being affected.

However, seniors, and upperclassmen in general, aren’t the only high school students to face frequent stress. To say that entering high school as a freshman is not an easy change is an understatement. This is an experience that we all have to go through, but that does not make it any easier, or less stressful.

Examples of stressors many freshmen face range from having to take on a much larger workload and no longer being held on to by adults, to learning the freedoms of being in high school and how to keep up with your own grades and schedule.

When asking freshman Sienna Hahn what is causing her the most stress in her life, she answered, “When I get lots of homework all at the same time, the idea of finishing it all makes me so stressed to the point where I wait until the last minute to finish it all.” This is a very frequent answer among freshmen, however the stress of homework does not stop there. Hahn went on to explain that, “This also leads to me not getting enough sleep because I do all my work at the last minute, which makes coming to school awful. Trying to maintain a social life on top of all of that makes it much more challenging.”

Fellow freshman Kayden Barry responded very similarly to Hahn, saying that, “My biggest stressor right now is probably balancing all of my homework with sports, having to remember what assignments are due, or what day and what time we go to practice along with games… balancing a home life and school is very hard as well. Having to go from school to home and do homework, while trying to find time to spend with my family, do chores, and relax is very hard.”

Ella Hukel described a stressor that she faces being “just trying to please everyone. Everyone has an expectation for me and sometimes I feel like I just can’t meet that expectation. A big one, if I had to pick a specific example, is just trying to please my parents with school and volleyball.”

This is especially true to many, if not all, freshmen. Coming into an environment surrounded by so many other, older people who seem to have their life together is not easy when you are still trying to figure out who you are. Many freshmen are trying to keep up with everyone else. Freshman year should be a time of fun,learning, and becoming who you really are, but the pressure of fitting in and pleasing others makes this task much harder. 

High school can be hard, and being a freshman learning to roll with the punches of school, and life, can be too. Make sure to give yourself grace, take care of yourself, and check on your friends.

Now, what is causing you the most stress in your life?