By: Megan Parr and Emmalee Sclease
Seniors know first-hand the pain our school struggled with during fourth quarter, a time of self-isolation and quarantine.
According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, one in every five teens has a mental health issue, so it is important to remember that you are not alone in these difficult times and your peers are feeling a lot of the same things that you are.
“I don’t think anyone could have predicted having a pandemic in 2020 let alone senior year,” Samantha Fredriksen said. “I wish I knew it was the last day I was going to see [my friends]… that’s what I keep thinking about.”
Fredriksen was hardly alone in how she felt. “As of right now I have accepted that my senior year is over but at the beginning I was having a really hard time with it,” Red Mountain senior Kayla Brown said. “I was crying almost everyday for the first two weeks and I was reaching out to classmates and explaining how hard this was for me.”
Overtime, Brown started to feel relief when she found a solid routine and reached out to others. “It is still hard for me to accept, but I’ve been trying to take it one day at a time and just take care of myself,” Brown said. “I’ve created a routine where I get up, workout, eat breakfast, take a shower, do my schoolwork, and afterwards, relax and try to get my mind off of all the negative stuff in the world.”
Making a routine that includes exercise can help students stay organized and eliminate some stress. Exercise keeps you physically healthy, but it also keeps you mentally healthy.
“Exercise not only changes your body, it changes your mind, your attitude and your mood,” P.E. Coach Jackie Kennedy said.
In addition to working out, the class of 2020 will find new ways to persevere through emotional setbacks.
“At the end of any significant challenge you have either persevered or allowed yourself to be defeated,” Mr. Wasilewski said. “While this pandemic has occured at a time devastating to our senior class, I feel that there is immeasurable value in the learning opportunities that will come out of this.”
Emotional intelligence is one take away seniors can gain from this process.
“I believe that the class of 2020 will graduate more mentally and emotionally equipped for life’s inevitable struggles than any class before them,” Mr. Wasilewski said.
Learning how to cope during a pandemic was within reach for seniors who had their peers, counselors and educators right beside them trying to do the same thing.
Mental health issues are real for teenagers and nothing to be ashamed of. The key for overcoming these hardships is to remember that you are not alone and the school is there to help.
“The amount of love I have felt through all of this from the school is amazing and it really shows me that our school doesn’t just care about our education, but our mental health as well,” Brown said. “They really have made this easier for me and I am beyond grateful for that!”
It is important to practice self-care during this transition out of high school. Seniors are lucky to have adult supporters on campus who are rooting for them.
“The Class of 2020 is making history,” Ms. Bianchi said. “You have been thoughtful global citizens, looking out for the health and safety of others.”
Bianchi among others wish the best for our 750 seniors.
“May you take pride in the way you treated each other through sacrifice, support, flexibility, and compassion,” Bianchi said. “You are good humans and exemplify courage, respect, and influence beyond Red Mountain. May your Red Mountain memories last forever.”
Tips for Self-care
As of right now everyone is trying to get used to our new techniques for learning, such as online school, but trying to keep up and figure out how to do all this when being stuck at home can be very stressful. Here are some trick and tips that we learned along the way:
Breathing
One easy way to lower the stress is by slowing your breathing. There are many tricks to doing that one way is finding something relatively square shaped and running your eyes along the sides. Dedicate two sides attached at an edge to breathing out and the other two to breathing in. While your eyes are running along the ‘breathe in side’ you breathe in and repeat with breathing out on the ‘breathe out sides’.
Focus on Your Senses
Another trick to help if you’re feeling super anxious is focusing on your senses and using mindfulness. You can do this by locating 5 things you can see, 4 things you can hear, 3 things you can feel, 2 things you can smell, and one thing you can taste. This can be done easily and quickly by just taking a moment and focusing on your surroundings.
Exercise
In a neuroscience study conducted at Harvard in 2019, Karmel Choi found exercising for just 15 minutes a day helps promote neural growth, less inflammation, and an overall calm state of mind, due to new activity patterns within your brain.
Google New Tips
You can find many other helpful tricks like these by going into google and looking up things like “Tricks to help calm down when feeling anxious”, or “Tricks to keeping yourself mentally healthy in self isolation.” In these stressful times, just remember there are always tricks to help ease the stress and that Red Mountain counselors are always open to listen and talk to you.
ROAR 