 What's up guys it's Josh and we're backing up with another video. In today's video we're going to tackle a topic that not a lot of people talk about. Which is surprising because I can tell you for sure it's something we all experienced and I know I did. Today we're going to be talking about stress in high school, specifically when it comes to grades, extracurriculars, and college applications. This is something that affected me a lot in high school regardless of whether I told people about it or talked about it in public. I mean it happened. Here's the simple answer. You can't avoid stress. It's going to be something that you experience from time to time, especially with the pressure that high school and college applications bring. Hopefully by the end of the video you'll have a little more insight into how stress affected me when I was in high school and hopefully you'll have a couple tips to handle it on your own. But before we get into it I want to talk about the sponsor of today's video which is Crimson Education. If you've ever felt stress about your grades in high school, your test scores, your college essays, Crimson is going to be able to help you out. If you've been watching my channel for a while I guarantee you that you've been recommended at least one of their videos. These videos were created to help students make their dream of studying at a top ranked college possible. Crimson Education's main goal is to connect students with a team of strategists, mentors and tutors that will help them create a successful college application. Whether that be extracurricular and leadership project, college essay brainstorming and editing or SAT prep and tutoring, the best part is that it actually works as they've had over 330 offers to top 50 colleges since 2013. For those of you applying internationally don't worry, Crimson now has over 25 offices across the globe. If you've ever felt lost in your college applications or stressed or just want to stand out in the growing competition, definitely go check out Crimson. I'll leave the link below, fill out the form, they'll get in touch with you and help you find a plan that's right for you. Alright, back to the video. So stress. First of all I'm going to talk about what exactly causes stress. For me it was the constant pressure of trying to explore my extracurricular interests while still trying to maintain my grades. I'd spend all my free time reading college application articles and blogs trying to find out how to stand out or like write a better essay or like what extracurricular I could get involved in. I just wanted to tell a compelling story in my college application and I didn't feel like I was doing that so it was it was really hard. I was also worried about sports and baseball. How could I be expected to pitch my best when I was running on four hours of sleep because I was studying for a calc test the night before. High school is a game of trying to balance way too many things and anytime you make a mistake it feels like the end of the world. There were days when I would wake up in the morning and feel like I couldn't get out of bed because I felt so overwhelmed. For example, here was a typical day in my high school life. I would wake up around 6 a.m, shower, get dressed, and then study for around an hour in the morning like what was I doing? Then I would head to school around 8 a.m. If it was freshman or sophomore year I'd be doing homework and studying on the bus. If it was during junior or senior year I'd be driving my brother and his friends to school and putting up with their shenanigans. I would get to school, go through all my classes, take any tests or turn any assignments I had to, and then I would immediately head to baseball after school. If I had a game I would get home around 11 or midnight. If I had practice most of the time I'd meet back by 7.30. Soon as I got home I would immediately start grinding on any homework I had. Most nights I would go until I just couldn't even hold my eyes open any longer and there were some nights where I just fell asleep on my kitchen table like with a face full of calculus, not the best of days. It's just not a healthy lifestyle. I was not treating my body right and it was all due to this unnecessary stress. For some reason I thought the whole world revolved around me getting the perfect grades and the perfect test scores. When in reality it felt like I was barely living. I know I often come off as this happy perfect individual who doesn't have any problems at all just because you're like witnessing my life through this camera lens but in reality I had a really rough time in high school. Like when it came to academics and just like socially transferring schools there's just a lot that caused stress for me. So I hope to share with you guys some tips that will help you get through the gauntlet that is high school and college applications. Especially if you're looking at applying to top schools like Yale. My first tip is to take breaks. Specifically take them early and often. Although you may want to keep grinding on whatever you're working on, a lot of times a quick break can provide a much needed mental rejuvenation and can make the rest of your study session a lot more productive and can make the rest of your study session a lot more productive and less stressful. I was a big fan of a pretty popular study technique you've probably heard of, the Pomodoro Method. Basically where you split your study session into like 30 minute blocks where for 25 minutes you're studying and for 5 minutes you're taking a break. This thing works miracles and can drastically increase your endurance when it comes to studying. Especially if you're trying to get through a long session. Actually I was such a big fan of this method that for like a CS project my junior year I coded my own Pomodoro like web application. So you know I'll leave the link below you can check that out it was pretty cool. The next tip I have deals with organization. If you're not organized it's going to become very easy to get overwhelmed by assignments and projects and soon you'll be super stressed. Organization is key. You'll obviously keep all of your classes organized in a binder notebook folder whatever you want to use but it needs to be laid out in a way that you can easily access it and it's not going to get crumpled or anything because these are notes and assignments that you need to be studying on them. Also try to use a planner or a calendar even on your phone. I know my school probably like most schools always hand out those like agenda books at the beginning of the year and they're like hey you got to use these right down all your assignments and like I don't know they used to like check them and like sign them off like during a home or whatever. But those things are actually really useful despite being forced to use them. I didn't really use a calendar or planner in high school but I really wish I did. Now I keep my entire schedule in GCal, Google Calendar. One it's easy to use and edit. But two a lot of people ask for your GCal when they're scheduling meetings or events for my extracurricular activities around campus. Also make sure you have an organized and clean workspace that you can come back to after a long day of school. This can make it a lot easier to study because you're in an environment that you know in an environment that you have control over. I always love plopping down in my like big comfy office chair after a long day of school in baseball. And having my favorite pencil and notebook exactly where I left it the night before. My last tip when it comes to fighting stress in high school is maintaining good physical condition. Mainly this means exercise and sleep. It's very hard to get nine hours of sleep each night. Most nights I ended up with seven or eight but I wasn't as productive as I could have been. But man a three or four hour night will absolutely destroy you. You can't be falling asleep in class. You might as well not even be there. The key to getting enough sleep is making sure that you prioritize it in your schedule. Set a bedtime and stick to it. If you still have work to do you obviously didn't manage your time well enough during the day. Also, exercise can drastically improve your mental health and also your ability to endure long study sessions. In the off season during high school I would go to the gym every single night from 9 to 10 30. Run, hit a quick lift, come back and finish up any last minute study things I needed before we go to bed. Not only will this get you in better physical shape it's a great stress reliever and really stimulates the body. My biggest tip though, my biggest tip though is to just take a step back every once in a while. Relax and take a deep breath. High school and the college application process is rough but that one late calc assignment or that one B on a history test is not going to ruin your college application. Just realize that you don't have to be perfect. I wasn't. Colleges would much rather see a thriving mentally healthy student that's passionate and loves what they're doing than somebody that looks like a zombie but has a 4.0. This is my biggest piece of advice for you guys. Just keep yourself healthy, okay? All right, this video has already gone way too long but I hope you guys enjoyed and got some value out of this. These tips would have helped me a lot if I would have known them when I was going through high school. So take advantage of them now. Do you have any questions, comments, concerns or just want to say hi or maybe you have any future video ideas? Leave them in the comments down below. If you're a big fan of the continued college application videos I keep putting out every other Monday, definitely drop a big thumbs up. It supports the channel and supports me a lot more than you think. This is the first video of mine that you're seeing. Make sure to subscribe. Not only do I have college application related videos like this, I'm also posting vlogs and student interviews and just kind of trying to share my life here at Yale with you guys also. So definitely consider subscribing. All right, that's about it. I'll see you guys soon.