Life is stressful. A statement every human can agree with, and if they don’t they’re liars. Stress is a natural part of life nobody can escape; whether school- or family-induced, everybody has it.

Sophie Cordell isn’t a fan of stress, but who is? She simply states, “It’s not cool. I don’t like stress.”

Cordell tries her best to relax when faced with not-so-fun situations, making sure to “listen to music, that really helps me and I just calm myself, like, go to an environment where it’s calming.”

While stress is mostly viewed as bad, Avery Jacobs understands how it can sometimes be of help. She states, “I think a small amount of stress can be good motivation, but too much causes more problems.” 

Jacobs has her own ways of detoxing herself from demanding times, “I read a book, bake, or draw.” However, these things aren’t always possible in the moment, so sometimes a simple pause and breath can help to take away an edge of anxiety. 

Jacobs finds that stress is more than just an emotional state, it’s something that contributes to the whole body. She says, “Physically it’s awful, it makes me tired.” Headaches and exhaustion stemming from days of worry about tests and all things stressful. 

When Cordell is faced with different forms of stress she also has different ways of reacting, when in the face of more family-leading troubles she can “separate myself from my family then, but I mean school’s different.” 

School is a thing that she can’t exactly just “separate” from, instead taking time to rejuvenate at home or just time away from homework can help to decompress. 

Every human on Earth has stress in their lives, moments of discomfort where they feel as if their head could pop at any moment, because of this everybody needs a break every once in a while. One break just like winter break; which is a time to sleep, spend time with family, and do nothing at all.