Introduction
High school is well known as one of the biggest transition stages a person goes through in their life. In movies and books, it’s when a character discovers who they are and who they want to be. However, the difficulties that high school students face are oftentimes neglected or forgotten with time. Many students describe, screaming I might add, that everything is too much for them to handle, that they feel too stressed. The combined weight of academics, extracurriculars, social interactions, personal changes, and expectations from the world around them in addition to responsibilities set by teachers and parents (that don’t exist for older students) makes it difficult for high schoolers to find a balance in their whirlwind of life. This constant aggravation to their quality of life may lead to serious physical and mental detriments, as stated by a ScienceDirect article titled “A systematic – Review of academic stress intended to improve the educational journey of learners”. Authors R.Y. Chua, Y.L. Ng and M.S.A. Park stated: “stressed students experience lethargy, raised blood pressure, depression, amplified cravings, anxiety, restlessness, distractibility, and tension”. This proves to us that this issue of life misbalance amongst high school students needs to be addressed urgently since it impacts an entire demographic of our population in dangerous ways. 

In order to study this issue further and explore how it would play out in our own school, John Fraser Secondary School, I conducted a survey to understand how students around us feel about their own schedules and how we can improve their quality of life at our school. 

Survey Findings
The survey I conducted consisted of a short questionnaire that asked students about their level of stress, their responsibilities in and out of school, and how supported they feel. From this survey, a number of average results were extracted.

The data showed that the average daily stress level amongst the students that took the survey was 4 out of 5 (where 5 is the most stressed) on a daily basis. The majority of respondents reported having extracurricular activities in addition to jobs. Many of the respondents stated that they felt overworked and undersupported and in result caused them to give up hobbies, leisure time, and even sleep in sacrifice to keep up with their day. 

This data mirrors trends in several works of research I consulted. A 2023 ScienceDirect research report on Student Stress Levels said “During this process [of formal education], a significant burden is placed on their mental and physical health.”. In other words, an excess of pressure in a student’s life results in poor mental health and growth and it limits their capabilities to maintain balance, as we see in the results of the survey.

Why do students feel this way?
The main reason high school students feel so stressed and all over the place can be broken down into two main factors: fear of failure and being overworked. 

The truth is, the progress and success that a high school student experiences is actually a great deciding factor of their success and growth in the future. Any little failure,  misunderstanding, or misstep can make a student feel like the whole world is going to crash down on them and that they can never ever get back up. In combination to the fear of failing social expectations, students may oftentimes feel like they’re constantly on stage performing a show they’ve never even read. One small mistake, and they might be fired. An article on student well-being by the International Institute of Well-Being says that “Outside of a school context, stress management efforts among adults are part of the pursuit of work-life balance, a growing topic of conversation and research as workplaces increasingly try to support employees in managing their commitments across work, family, life and leisure. Because students possess their own unique set of concerns, applying the idea of work-life balance to those in college or graduate school introduces some distinct challenges.” It is expressed that the life of a student is very different from that of an adult with a job because it is. Students can’t make mistakes, or at least they feel like they can’t, because they feel like they can’t fix it. They aren’t set in life like everyone else and it’s a scary idea to believe that you won’t get anywhere in life if you don’t do well now. 

It’s also important to take into account that students have a lot of things to do in a single day. This ties back to the idea of the fear of failure. Students are always expected to juggle a million things (and excel at it!) everyday so that they can prove to universities or employers that they are worth accepting. That they are worth advancing in life, but it’s just so much. If you think about it, no one else is expected to have extracurricular activities in addition to their jobs and at-home work (if it exists). To use up every waking hour in a day effectively just to get by is a ridiculous notion- and no human being should be expected to do it…yet here we are. You can’t forget about individual struggles as well like social expectations and relationships, struggles with image or finance, struggles with self-worth that stem from feelings of stress at school. Not every issue a student can experience is solvable with a statement of support by a school counselor. Within a survey conducted specifically on the impacts of school work on students in 2024 by The [U.S.] National Institute of Health researchers found that  “Among the examined psychosomatic symptoms, there is a notable presence of apathy, irritability, and fatigue/exhaustion, which not only affect the participating adolescents the most but also pose the greatest problem in terms of frequency.” This proves that an excessive amount of workload is in fact detrimental to student health.
I must state, stress can be beneficial for students to an extent. One should always be under some degree of stress in order to encourage them to meet goals and retain information. A study on academic stress in 2024 published on ScienceDirect found that short-term stress can be useful for students taking a test since it positively impacts memory. Mild stress can improve the immune system, and a form of stress called Eustress is a motivator that enables students to take action and is required for satisfaction. “However, when stress levels go up from mild, it takes a turn towards concern. It happens when academic demands increase and students lack the abilities and resources to handle it. Severe academic stress is linked to poor mental health, regardless of factors such as gender, role, race, or academic grade (Barbayannis et al., 2022).” It is an excess of stress and pressure that I choose to discuss so diligently because it truly is an issue that opposes the effects of positive stress. The information that too much pressure can harm students must be made common knowledge so that we, as a society, can progress further.

How to balance your life
“Academic stress is not something that cannot be managed or coped. Every student develops their unique coping mechanisms to overcome the stress.” (A systematic – Review of academic stress intended to improve the educational journey of learners, ScienceDirect). I know it sounds absolutely horrifying, hearing our lives summed up this way and learning about just how much it can hurt us. Fear not! For there is always a solution. 

Instead of boring you with the cliches of time management, social support, healthy lifestyle, relaxation techniques, and study techniques (which are proven to be true by the way by the same source from above!)I choose to tell you that every solution you can take needs to be based solely on your own merit. Fortunately, success and growth in this world on an individual level only happen when you understand yourself and what you need. Of course always put effort into everything you do, but never forget that your     true enjoyment is always important as well. Take time to build into your social relationships, enjoy your hobbies, and ensure that your wellness is peak because the loss of these small things can easily harm your health and progress by a large scale, according to a research report on student well-being by the National Institute of Health. 

Remember that you don’t need to be perfect in the eyes of everyone around you, although I know that sometimes it’s so hard to think about it since you feel like you live for everyone else. I just want to remind you that every little thing you do in this world will always reverberate back to you because that’s who you’re living for. You. Please remember that life isn’t a race for success, but rather a journey of growth. Treat it that way. Don’t be so focused on fertilising the plant that you forget to give it water. 

Conclusion
Using results from the survey conducted in our school in addition to a number of other sources, I was able to come to the conclusion that student life is immensely complex with a million different pressures, academic, social, and emotional, that make it seem impossible to escape. While no one solution fits all students since everyone is different, research shows that the best way to succeed in anything, including academic success, is to nurture your mental and physical health as it plays a big role in motivation, retention and application of knowledge, and long-term energy. In order to further foster student growth within school settings, schools should avoid excess stress by setting more realistic expectations and by acknowledging the sheer importance of mental and physical health and the role it plays on student success. 

High school can be such an opportunity of growth, we just need to accept that it takes time.