With October’s chill and gloomy feel, school work and stress spook students and staff! James Bowie students and stress reveal what makes them stressed and provide helpful tips when dealing with stress.

Stress is a state of worry that prompts us to deal with challenges and prioritize important tasks.

P-Tech instructor Erin Tolman reveals that testing stresses her because it interrupts her day and she loses time with her students.

“Especially a STAAR tested subject, they even have more stress and all this extra data to look at,” said Tolman.

She expresses her sympathy towards core subject teachers and why the core subjects tend to be more difficult.

“Which I think is why sometimes it’s hard to find great teachers for core subjects because of all the pressure on them.”

Junior Semaj Tolbert reveals that deadlines are what stress her the most in school.

“The fact that we have semi-limited time to do our assignments.” said Tolbert.

TCU CAC Advisor Fadwa Saleh shares that exams and studying proved to be a  challenge when she was in high school.

“I wasn’t the best at studying,” said Saleh.

However determination and persistence are crucial to success and have allowed them to persevere and deal with the stress.

Saleh studied for 25 minutes before taking a 10 minute break on her Switch to play Pokémon.

“Something to relax a bit before getting back into it [studying],” she said.

Tolbert shares that she would do her assignments as soon as they were given to her and practices breath control as a form to destress.

“Sometimes I write in my notes in my phone.” said Tolbert.

When asked about what she looks forward to about school, Tolman said she enjoys educating others and teaching soft daily skills such as how to be flexible and self-advocate.

“If you don’t wanna wake up and go to your job everyday, you shouldn’t be there,” said Tolman.

Tolbert shares that she looks forward to seeing her teachers, even if the class is hard.

“It really brings me up and makes me motivated to do my work when I actually like the teacher,” said Tolbert.

Saleh expresses that she looked forward to meeting with her friends and playing in sports.

“The more involved you are, the more you’ll have fun,” said Saleh.

Tolbert reveals that her dream to become a cardiovascular surgeon motivates her to keep going with school.

“So I have always wanted to be educated properly to become that,” said Tolbert.

Meanwhile Saleh reveals that her family and older siblings who have also gone to college  motivated her. 

“If they can do it, I can,” said Saleh.

If you struggle with stress and would like a tip, Tolman suggests reading a book, watching tv and listening to classical music, but warns against unhealthy methods.

She also suggests the square breathing technique which involves inhaling for 4 seconds then exhaling for 4 seconds two times, as if going in a square.

“It’s really important not to turn to food because that won’t help you,” said Tolman.

However it’s important to remember that problems don’t naturally go away and you must confront them even if you don’t want to.

Tolbert recommends communicating with your teachers and to pace yourself and discourages procrastination.

“Don’t make things harder on yourself if you know you can do it at a certain time.” said Tolbert.

Saleh_ recommends having a gaming console nearby to take a break from work and emphasizes breaks.

“So that you’re not just in a cycle of studying,” said Saleh