I know the feeling. I know the feeling that supersedes any feelings of happiness or tranquility, the feeling that creeps in on Thursday evening when everyone else in the house has gone to sleep and rest of the world is black, when the gremlins in your head that have been suppressed the rest of the day begin to whine. I know that feeling of “Oh no, there’s twenty pages of reading for history, an essay for English, a metric ton of math problems, and a vocab quiz to study for, and it’s all due tomorrow! The world’s going to end! My workload is reaching a critical mass, and it’s about to implode and form a black hole in my bedroom that I’ll never be able to escape.” If it’s not homework then it’s college applications: “If I don’t write the best essay that the world has ever seen I’m not going to get into (insert your dream college here) and then I won’t get a good job and my parents will disown me and I’ll live in a dumpster the rest of my life!” The feeling sidles in when other people in class mention the SAT, and suddenly you realize that oh no, that’s this weekend, and I haven’t studied at all! Or you’re checking your e-mail and suddenly realize that the deadline for that scholarship you’ve been meaning to apply for is -- gulp -- tomorrow. And it requires three essays and a letter of recommendation.
I’m pretty sure that every single person at NPA has had this feeling that the world is about to end at some point or another. Don’t get me wrong, working hard and pushing yourself to reach your potential is a good thing. Aspiring for excellence never killed anybody. But at NPA, we have proven that a regular diet of stress is a health risk. NPA has this crazy ability to incubate and spread stress like a wildfire. And even worse: studies have shown that stress lowers the immune system, making it easier for bacteria and viruses to work their way in. That’s right: that cold that you got might have been brought on by stress. It’s a positive feedback loop: get stress, get a cold. Stay home sick, get more stressed about missing school. Get more stress, get another cold! And so on and so forth.
And so, I entreat my fellow NPA students with one word: Perspective. Please stop stressing. You’re GOING to score higher on the ACT than the great majority of the rest of the nation by the virtue that you’ve worn a polo and khakis for most of your life. Colleges look at a lot more than just one number. And please don’t freak out or have a nervous breakdown over one assignment. It’s just one assignment. You’ve written how many over the semester? You’re smart; you can do the math. How much will one less-than-stellar performance hurt your grade? Before you go get your graphing calculator, I’ll tell you: not that much. Not enough to lose sleep or cause a mental breakdown. You’re going to be fine.
Now, don’t just run off and forget your studies entirely. Don’t tell your parents you’re moving to Baja California and will never work another day because I said stress is bad. All I ask is that when those little stress-gremlins materialize at the periphery of your vision Thursday night, have a little perspective. Whatever crisis it is, it’s not as life threatening as it may seem to be. Do what you can, and then go to bed. It will all look better in the morning. You’re going to be fine.
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