To often people experience too much stress over a long period of time. When this happens and nothing is done about it, your body will begin to feel the affects by leaving you feeling exhausted, burned out, ill or very depressed. You can also begin to have anxiety attacks or even panic attacks.

Stress can interfere with your friendships and daily activities. For students it can make you less productive at school, create problems at home with your family and even lead to serious health problems immediately or later in life.

Talk to your parents or see your school guidance counselor if you have any concerns regarding stress.

As the end of the year approaches you may begin to feel your body react in many ways that may make you feel sad, short-tempered, sick, anxious, and perhaps overwhelmed.  Sometimes these feeling are due to stress.  Stress is the pressure you feel when your body reacts to a threat, something new or a challenge.  For seniors the challenge may be that you are now completing high school and need to begin planning for life after K-12.  Try to remember that stress is a part of daily life and affects everyone.

If you are currently exhibiting any of these symptoms or not feeling like yourself, see your School Guidance Counselor who may work with you or refer you to a non school professional.

In the next couple of weeks I’ll write about why you need to be aware of stress, the causes and how to manage it.

The end of the year is rapidly approaching and you may begin feeling excited, tired, worried about your future and perhaps very stressed.  This month I’ll cover the following topics:

• What to do if you didn’t get into your first choice colleges
• End of the year stress
• Some stressors
• How to manage stress

For those of you who didn’t get into your preferred group of colleges there is still hope.  Some of the University of California schools continue to accept applications and are open in various majors.  It will take some research on your part but if the UC system is where you want to be it will be worth the time and energy to inquire by phone, email or individual college websites.  Additionally, some out-of-state colleges and California State Universities continue to accept applications.  The two-year colleges and training programs will begin to accept applications in mid-May. 

As an aside, now is the time to begin searching for that summer JOB!