By Anne Isman

It’s that time of the year again–no, I’m not talking about the holidays. Following Winter break comes PBA week, an event students cannot escape as deadlines start to roll in, teachers begin to hand out assignments, and students stress even more about semester grades.  When it comes time for finals, it can seem that our schedules consist of nothing but work, which may make students more resentful towards their teachers and even more likely to procrastinate. Fed up with having to face yet another weekend of endless homework, I looked to my peers to see how they remain calm while dealing with copious amounts of stress.  

Many students emphasized a greater need for sleep when dealing with an overwhelming amount of work. As Lauren Hay advised, “Having enough sleep can…improve concentration.” This philosophy was also voiced by Gillian Vilela, who mentioned that taking naps helps break up endless amounts of homework.

Other students believe that rewarding oneself every so often can serve as an incentive to remain focused on work. This can involve taking a break to listen to music, as Anya Splittgerber recommended, or to simply eat a good meal, as suggested by Kate Pamplin.

Kate also detailed the importance of developing time management skills, given all the work assigned in the lead-up to PBA week.  Specifically, Kate suggested that labelling things “in order of importance–to get ‘x’ done first because it’s the most important and then [moving] on from there,” can provide structure to an immense workload, resulting in less time spent procrastinating and more time spent completing assignments.

Despite the pressure Beacon students often experience when asked to complete difficult, time-consuming projects for PBA week, as well as the pressure they put on themselves to maintain and boost their grades, Julian Fuchsberg argued that at the end of the day, “there are more important things than just school.” He reminds students that “eventually [the] work will be done” and PBA week will be over.  Ultimately, all that Beacon students can really do to prepare for an upcoming PBA week is put forth their best efforts, while remembering that in reality, it’s just one tough week they have to face.