When under pressure with school work or finals, there are always methods to help those who feel stressed. It is important to step back and take time to destress. It’s best to adapt to healthy methods rather than unhealthy methods and how to deal with those types of emotions either personally or academically.

A healthy way to deal with stress is to take a break from everything, including social media, at least a couple times a day for a few minutes. Try some breathing exercises to help calm yourself down. People can meditate, do yoga, the skull shining breath are a few forms of breathing exercises.

“If you’re really stressed from finals or anything, take a lot of breaks, make sure you’re eating and drinking lots of water, and making sure you’re eating the three essential meals,” expressed Sara Silva, one of the Preuss’ school counselors. Ms. Silva has also recommended listening to music, watching videos on TikTok, and talking to a friend or counselor.

Another way of dealing with stress is to communicate with peers. Communication is important when those are dealing with their emotions. At the Preuss School UC San Diego, students are highly encouraged to speak to their teachers, advisors, counselors, parents, etc., if they are struggling in any form. Counselors have reached out to students by giving out their information so students may maintain contact and can even make an appointment with one of our counselors, if necessary.

When dealing with emotions like sadness, stress, frustration, etc., it’s still very important for people to stay hydrated and get enough sleep. For students, feeling stressed about school is frustrating and can get into students’ heads too much. With that, it’s important to remind students to get enough sleep, eat at least 3 meals a day and drink plenty of water. When handling oneself’s emotions, it’s sometimes helpful to do some self care activities. There are those who like to play, go out to eat, draw, write, listen to music, some like cleaning their rooms or just taking a nap. There are many activities for students to relax for a bit at mostly any place.

“Try to get comfy, take breaks, have snacks. Also, try to do something else with your brain like a creative outlet so your brain doesn’t fry!” recommends Vanessa Vandevanter, Preuss teacher.

In addition, it may help to take advantage of destressing events. For example, Preuss often invites therapy dogs for students to meet and pet the dogs to help with stress from the finals. It’s probably one of the best and cutest methods when dealing with stress. This year, we had students go to the Walton Center to make bracelets that were set up by the TSU-NAMI club. Remember that some methods that are effective for some, still may not work for others either academically or personally. Take time to find what works for yourself.