Stay organized, reduce stress on first day of school


By Irem Sogutlugil & Cece Cannata,
Bluedevilhub.com Staff–

The start of sophomore year and the transition from junior high to high school is a big step for Davis High School students. Being prepared for the first year of high school can help keep stress levels down.

Senior Makenna Rubinstein believes organization is important, especially when she has to juggle school with extracurricular activities.

“I use my planner a lot. By writing everything down, it helps me remember everything I have to do,” she said.

By learning not to procrastinate, Rubinstein has been able to reduce stress and limit the amount of homework she has over the weekend.

AVID, or Advancement Via Individual Determination, is a DHS class designed to prepare its students for college and future careers. Junior Bailey Ringer was enrolled in the class last year and believes it has helped her succeed in school.

“AVID has helped me stay organized with the binder system we have, where we keep all our work for our classes in one big binder,” Ringer said.

Like Rubinstein, Ringer has also attributes her reduced stress to organization techniques.

According to UC Davis research psychologist John Capitanio, stress is associated with lack of control and predictability.

“Having a set of deadlines can be stressful, but laying out a plan, and sticking to that plan, and ensuring there is time built into the plan in case unexpected things crop up, can reduce stress,” Capitanio said.

Being stressed in school can cause a domino effect; it can affect one’s health and create more absences.

“[Stress] can make you more susceptible to getting a cold or flu, if you get exposed to the virus,” Capitanio said.

Recent graduate Tamas Banyasz  relied on careful organization to stay on top of his schoolwork while at DHS.

“I’m actually known for being overly organized, so I would have to say I couldn’t live without it,” Banyasz said.

He believes methods for staying organized vary from person to person.

“[Organization] means something different for everyone. Someone definitely has to figure out the best system for themselves before doing anything,” Banyasz said.

To keep track of his tasks, Banyasz separated his subjects in one binder and kept everything in order. Writing down deadlines helped him prevent procrastination and stay on top of his work.

Banyasz comes from Norway, where academics are more rigorous and helped him prepare for Davis schooling.

“I just brought with me my old system. I had a good idea what I would need, and got everything before school even started,” Banyasz said.