After two full months of sunbathing and sleeping in, most student’s brains are muddled coming into school. Even with summer projects keeping them on track, the inundation of school work causes a sudden whirlwind of stress for students.

“After the summer my brain is so fogged up that it is difficult to pay attention 100 percent of the time,” sophomore Doreen Tetteh said.

Thankfully, there are small things that can be done to reduce the amount of stress put upon students, specifically freshman.

First and foremost, the main cause of the student’s growing stress needs to be addressed. Whether it is time management, too much homework, or not enough sleep, the root of the problem needs to be found.

The second step is prioritizing. It has been drilled into every student’s head that school should come before everything else. Once homework and projects are completed, a sense of relief is sure to follow. It is also important to do an adequate job with your work rather than doing a poor job to just get the work done. Lastly, although it is okay to take a break once school is over, make sure to not lose track of time. This way there’ll be enough time to get work done (Preferably, several hours before you go to sleep).

The third step is to be constantly updated with grades for each class. This will ensure that when progress reports, interims, and report cards come home, your grades are not a huge surprise. Although it may seem like you are keeping your grades up, some teachers give little amounts of work back, or sometimes, return work very late. Staying updated will make it easier to deal with mistakes in school work right away instead of having to deal with them weeks later at the cost of your final grade.

The last, and most crucial step is to get enough sleep. Although it may be hard to adjust to waking up at five in the morning and going to bed by at least 10, it must be done consistently. Also, do not stay up and wake up too late on the weekends. It will help adjust your sleeping patterns and help with catching up on missed sleep during the course of the week.

“Being organized and getting enough sleep is really important,” sophomore Scotty Matthewman said.